Neighborhood Bike Routes Paving Coordination Update

Agenda Items, Infrastructure Committee, Paving PlanLeave a comment

At the May 1, 2025 BPAC Infrastructure Committee meeting, Oakland DOT staff members David Pené and Jason Patton provided an update on Neighborhood Bike Route improvements completed and planned through the implementation of the Five Year Paving Plan. This work is informed by Oakland’s 2019 Bicycle Plan update and the Neighborhood Bike Route Implementation Guide [PDF]. Focus corridors include the Sobrante Park-Brookfield Village route, West St (14th St to W Grand Ave), 7th Ave (E 8th St to Park Blvd), and E 19th St (Park Blvd to 13th Ave).

An excerpt is below, followed by the presentation, and notes (forthcoming) from the presentation and discussion.

NBR/Paving Citywide Analysis

Goals

  • Build a knowledge base and map of conditions related to NBRs (traffic volumes and speeds, speed humps, major crossings).
  • Develop recommendations early enough and at a level of detail to feed efficiently into paving construction documents and to inform a robust public process.
  • Document out-of-scope recommendations for future capital projects.

Scope

188 roadway segments analyzed, encompassing the ~50 miles of NBRs on the Five-Year Paving Plan

  • Data Collection: 93 traffic counts collected to understand traffic volumes and speeds
  • Speed Hump Siting: 598 blocks analyzed for proposed speed humps (and documented 151 blocks with existing humps).
  • Additional Traffic Calming Proposals (mainly traffic circles): at blocks where speed humps are infeasible; at the intersection of two NBRs; and on streets with existing traffic calming and speeds/volumes above NBR targets.
  • Side-Street Stop: 167 intersections analyzed to reduce locations where cross-traffic does not stop.
  • Major Street Crossings: Identifying, analyzing, and developing improvements for NBR crossings.

Opportunities & Constraints

  • Paving projects can be a very efficient means for delivering traffic safety improvements.
    • Speed humps and stop control changes are now standard practice in OakDOT paving projects.
    • OakDOT is growing its capacity for delivering traffic circles and other types of islands.
  • Not all paving projects are equally equipped to deliver NBR upgrades.
    • Utility projects may have scope limitations that preclude OakDOT from implementing upgrades.
    • Paving projects by in-house crews are not equipped for delivering traffic circles and other islands.
  • Major crossing improvements have specific opportunities and challenges.
    • The best paving project for improving an NBR’s major street crossing is a paving project on the major
      street – not on the NBR.
    • There are MANY opportunities for improving intersections along NBRs by coordinating with projects on
      streets that intersect NBRs.
    • Local street projects have limited ability to implement major street crossing improvements as these
      projects generally have narrower scopes.

The City of Oakland’s current budget challenges and lack of bond funding are delaying construction and resulting in utility projects where full-width paving and traffic safety improvements cannot be coordinated.

Presentation

Neighborhood Bike Route (NBR) / Paving Coordination – Five Year Paving Plan to Date (5/1/25, BPAC Infrastructure Committee presentation)

Constructed

  • 11th Ave (E 8th St to Bayview Ave)
    • Project 1005312 (completed 2021) installed sharrows and a bike cut-through at an existing diagonal diverter.
    • Project 1006365 (completed 2022) installed additional speed bumps.
    • Project 1007238 (pending) will install additional side-street stop controls.
    • An HSIP 11 project will install crossing improvements at Foothill Blvd and E 15th St.
    • An HSIP 12 project will install crossing improvements at International Blvd.
  • 18th St (Wood St to Peralta St)
    • In-house project (completed 2025) installed speed humps, all-way stop control at Peralta St, and sharrows between Campbell St and Peralta St.
  • 25th Ave/E 29th St/Sheffield Ave (from E 27th St to MacArthur Blvd)
    • Project 1006309 (constructed 2024) installed speed humps and sharrows.
  • 26th St (Mandela Pkwy to Magnolia St)
    • Project 1006218 (constructed 2025) removed railroad tracks and installed speed humps and side-street stop controls.
  • 34th Ave (Foothill Blvd to Peralta Hacienda Park)
    • Project 1006309 (constructed 2023) installed sharrows, speed humps, and side-street stop controls.
  • 55th St/Vicente Wy/Cavour St (from Telegraph Ave to Shafter Ave)
    • Project 1006598 (constructed 2024) installed speed humps, side-street stop controls, and sharrows. (Note: Side-street stop is not feasible on Vicente Wy, so upstream speed humps were installed instead.)
  • 59th St/Howell St/Ayala Ave/Forest St (from Shattuck Ave to College Ave)
    • Project 1006598 (constructed 2024) installed speed humps, side-street stop control, sharrows, and repaired an existing street closure. (Note: Pending undulations not yet advanced on two blocks of Forest St, for further coordination with AC Transit.)
  • 103rd Ave (Royal Ann St to International Blvd)
    • Project 1006633 (constructed 2024) installed sharrows and replaced existing speed humps.
  • 105th Ave (Edes Ave to southern end)
    • Project 1006633 (constructed 2024) installed sharrows, speed humps, a raised intersection, and side-street stop controls.
  • 107th Ave/E St
    • Project 106633 (constructed 2024) installed all-way stop control.
  • Darien Ave/Eldridge Ave
    • Project 106633 (constructed 2024) installed side-street stop control.
  • Webster St (38th St to 40th St)
    • Utility Coordination Project 1006973 (constructed 2024) installed speed humps and reinstalled existing sharrows.
  • Wood St (16th St to 20th St)
    • Project 1006255 (constructed 2024) installed speed humps and sharrows. (Note: sharrows and railroad track removal extended up to 32nd St).
  • Speed humps installed by Project 1006337, a citywide speed hump contract (constructed 2024/2025), that added speed humps on streets previously paved without NBR improvements:
    • 21st Ave (E 21st St to E 30th St)
    • 103rd Ave (International Blvd to Byron Ave)
    • Barner Ave (Morgan Ave to Morgan Ave)
    • Brookdale Ave (35th Ave to High St)
    • Byron Ave (103rd Ave to MacArthur Blvd)
    • California St (Patterson Ave to 38th Ave)
    • E 31st St (14th Ave to 23rd Ave)
    • Genoa St (58th St to Arlington Ave)
    • Morgan Ave (Coolidge Ave to Barner Ave)
    • Tiffin Rd (Waterhouse Rd to Fruitvale Ave)

Speed Humps Installed on NBRs through Petitions (i.e., not through paving projects)

  • 16th Ave (E 15th St to Marin Wy)
  • 41st St (Opal to Manila Ave)
  • 52nd St (Genoa St to West St): Cushions installed (rather humps in response to OFD request)

In Process

  • 7th Ave (E 8th St to Park Blvd)
    • Project 1007238 will construct SLOW legends, speed humps, side-street stop controls, and bike cut-throughs at existing diagonal diverters. Note: Limited, striping/signage only improvements will be made at the major street crossings of E 15th St, Foothill Blvd, & E 18th St.
  • 27th St (Market St to Wood St)
    • Project 1007239 will construct sharrows, speed humps, and side-street stop control.
  • 32nd St (Mandela Pkwy to Helen St)
    • Project 1007239 will construct speed humps and replace sharrows. (Note: A speed hump was not advanced on the one block from Wood St to Mandela Pkwy due to the industrial land uses.)
  • Ardley Ave (Excelsior Ave to MacArthur Blvd)
    • Project 1006985 will construct speed cushions and replace existing sharrows.
  • Bayview Ave/Elliot St (from 11th Ave to E 34th St)
    • Project 1007238 will construct sharrows, side-street stop controls, speed humps, and a neighborhood traffic circle.
  • Beacon St (Lakeshore Ave to MacArthur Blvd)
    • Project 1006985 will construct speed humps, side-street stop control, and replace existing sharrows. Note: Upcoming road diets on MacArthur Blvd and Lakeshore Ave will incrementally improve the connecting major street crossings.
  • Cairo Rd (Hegenberger Loop to Coral Rd)
    • Project 1006578 will install sharrows and replace existing speed humps.
  • Coral Rd (Cairo Rd to Lindheim Overcrossing)
    • Project 1006578 will install sharrows and replace existing speed humps.
  • E 19th St (Park Blvd to 14th Ave)
    • Project 1007238 will construct SLOW legends, speed humps, side-street stop controls, gateway/incremental crossing improvements at 5th Ave and 8th Ave, and bike cut-throughs at existing diagonal diverters.
    • An HSIP 11 project will install crossing improvements at Park Blvd.
  • Hegenberger Loop (Hegenberger Rd to Cairo Rd)
    • Project 1006578 will install sharrows. Note: No traffic calming proposed at present. There are industrial land uses and AC Transit asked for alternatives to undulations. We are considering other bikeway types.
  • Jones Ave (Edes Ave to southern end)
    • Project 1006578 will construct speed humps, a bike ramp to the Lindheim Overcrossing, and sharrows.
  • Norgren St/Caswell Ave/Denslowe St/Darien Ave (from southern end of Jones Ave to St Elmo Dr)
    • Project 1006578 will construct speed humps, side-street stop controls, sharrows, and bike ramps to connect the cul-de-sacs at Jones Ave and Norgren St.
  • West St (14th St to West Grand Ave)
    • Project 1007239 will install sharrows, side-street stop controls, and a neighborhood traffic circle. Note: Pending crossing improvement at W Grand Ave under consideration.
    • An HSIP 10 project will construct a crossing improvement at 14th St.

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