At the October 19, 2023 BPAC meeting, Craig Raphael, Senior Transportation Planner with OakDOT’s Capital Finance team, provided an overview of and requested a BPAC letter of support for an upcoming application to the Safe Routes to BART construction grant program for a cycle track at Lakeside Drive between International Boulevard and 19th Street.

An excerpt of the presentation is below, followed by the full presentation and summary of discussion.

About the Project

Lakeside Drive from Madison Street to Lake Merritt Boulevard and Lake Merritt Boulevard from Lakeside to E 12th Street are set to be repaved in 2021. This presents an opportunity to extend the popular two-way protected cycletrack around Lake Merritt from Madison Street southward and over the Estuary Bridge to E 12th Street! The OakDOT project team has worked alongside the community to craft a comprehensive redesign of these streets to improve safety for people walking and biking, enhance the transit connection to the Tempo BRT, and better connect the Eastlake neighborhood with the Lake and Downtown destinations via the under-construction 14th Street Project.

Project Goals

• Provide a protected and welcoming place to ride a bike around Lake Merritt from Madison Street to E 12th Street
• Coordinate with AC Transit to provide bus-only lanes for the new Tempo BRT service, where feasible
• Alleviate congestion on the Lake Merritt mixed-use pathway
• Provide two-way bicycle connectivity on the lake side of Lake Merritt Boulevard for recreational users, and provide one-way bike facility on south side of Lake Merritt Boulevard
• Leave the freshly-paved roadway better than we found it, with a new roadway plan that encourages recreation and safe travel by all modes

Schedule/Next steps

• Project is at 100% Design
• Project team is moving forward with Construction Bid process (approx. 1-year timeline)
• Estimated project cost is ~$10M
• Safe Routes to BART Grant Application Due 12/14/23
  • $3M maximum allocation
  • Requires letter of support from BPAC
• Anticipated start of construction Winter 2024/25

Presentation

Summary of discussion

• The name of the grant application and project is the Lake Merritt Bikeway.
• This funding round is the third, after two unsuccessful applications by the City of Oakland to receive
  funding for this project via the Safe Routes to BART grant program.
• This $10 million project, at 100% design, would create a separated bike lane around the southern
  part of Lake Merritt.
• This separated bike lane would enhance connections between up to three BART Stations: 19th
  Street, 12th Street, and Lake Merritt Stations.
• The Franklin Street separated bike lane project may be more expensive, closer to the order of 20
  million to 30 million dollars.
• Lakeshore Avenue between El Embarcadero and E 18th Street has been discussed, but OakDOT does
  not have any details yet to share about plans for that roadway. Another project would need to be
  proposed for this extent.
• Socioeconomic and high-injury location data should be highlighted in the grant application.
• If the grant application is successful, construction is anticipated to begin in Winter 2024/25,
  spanning one to two years.
• Connecting Eastlake with Downtown Oakland via this separated bike lane is important.
• A motion to submit a letter of support for the Safe Routes to BART Lake Merritt Bikeway project grant application was made (Ralston), seconded (Frank), and unanimously approved by roll call vote.