14th Street Goes Back to City Council June 21, 10:30am (not 1:30pm)

Update as of June 21: The City Council has unanimously voted in support of 14th Street safety improvements. Feel free to use the contact information at the bottom of this page to thank the members for their support.

14th Street is back on Oakland City Council agenda for a vote Tuesday, June 21. Council meeting starts at 10:30am and public comment is first on the agenda, posted here. 14th Street agenda item 2.17. ZOOM LINK to the Public Meeting on 6/21 at 10:30AM (link will go live at that time).

Talking Points:

1. 14th Street is dangerous to bike on and needs to be safe for walking and bicycling

2. Downtown Oakland should have at least one safe east-west bikeway, and 14th Street is the street most used by bicyclists

3. This project will help support local businesses and make 14th Street a good destination for many people shopping and dining in Oakland

OakDOT has worked out issues with Oakland Fire Department, maintaining essentially the same design as before–protected bike lanes, one lane of traffic in each direction, bus boarding islands, and on-street parking preserved. Council takes up the long-awaited project on June 21 and needs to hear from you.

The project is supported by AC Transit, BART, and the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, as well as several local businesses on 14th Street. On March 22, Oakland Public Works Committee unanimously approved a safer 14th Street in Downtown Oakland, with public speakers overwhelmingly in support, including the owners of Kon Tiki Restaurant and Dinner House on 14th Street at Webster Street.

You can also support this project by supporting local businesses on 14th Street. As we mentioned, Kon Tiki is supportive of the project and they also own Palmetto on Telegraph Avenue. Maya Halal Taqueria across the street from Kon Tiki is delicious and popular. Check out some March madness at Halftime Sports Bar. If you need to order some trophies, check out Adtiser and say hello to Janette.

Email the Oakland City Council in support of this project:

Dan Kalb

Sheng Thao

Loren Taylor

Noel Gallo 

Carroll Fife

Nikki Fortunato Bas

Treva Reid

Rebecca Kaplan

OakDOT’s Stakeholder Update June 9, 2022:

Hello 14^th Street Safety Project Stakeholder,

After many years of community engagement and design and a unanimous vote of approval at the March 22, 2022 Public Works Committee Meeting, OakDOT will bring the 14^th Street Safety Project to City Council for a VOTE OF APPROVAL on June 21, 2022 at 10:30AM.  You are receiving this email because you’ve engaged with this project in the past.  We’re inviting you to please log in to the Zoom Council meeting on 6/21 at 10:30, raise your hand when you enter the meeting, and provide a public comment on this Project! 

Following a successful approval vote on 6/21, OakDOT will move this project forward for construction, set to begin in early 2023. 

As a reminder, this project will:

• Create a calmer and slower 14^th Street with 1 lane of vehicle traffic in each direction

• Maintain on-street parking and loading, and add parking spaces to the area by adding angled parking spaces on the south side of 13^th Street

• Install a fully protected bicycle lane, separated from vehicle traffic by raised concrete islands

• Shorten pedestrian crossings and retime signal lights to give pedestrians more time to cross and improve intersection safety

• Install a fully-raised extended sidewalk (with raised bike lanes) for the entire block face behind the Family Bridges/Hong Fook Center to allow for paratransit and senior loading directly on a level surface (the bike lane on other blocks will be roadway-level)

• Install fully-raised, extended sidewalks (with raised bike lanes) on the entire block from Webster to Harrison to upgrade the pedestrian experience on this core commercial block

• Upgrade transit stops with new boarding areas, canopies, seating, and lighting

• Install new landscaping and street trees

• Install new sidewalk lighting

• Repave 14^th Street

• A presentation is available here with more in-depth information

This is an important Safety Project on one of Oakland’s Highest Injury Corridors – someone is injured by a traffic collision every 10 days on 14^th Street, almost 200 people in the last 5 years.  In that same time period, two seniors walking in crosswalks on 14^th were struck and killed by drivers.  In addition to improving safety for people walking and driving, this project will also finally provide a safe and accessible East-West route for people to bike into Downtown. 

PUBLIC MEETING INFORMATION:

ZOOM LINK to the Public Meeting on 6/21 at 10:30AM (link will go live at that time).  To give a public comment, log into the meeting and raise your hand to be added to the public comment queue, where you will have 2 minutes to provide a comment. 

If you are unable to attend the meeting, please use this E-COMMENT LINK to provide an electronic comment on the Project.   

More information on City Meetings including agenda, zoom links, and e-comment links are available here:https://oakland.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

Please let me know if I can answer any questions about the process, and we hope you can attend the meeting on the 21^st to speak up for  Safer Streets in our Downtown! 

Charlie Ream

Transportation Planner

City of Oakland \| Department of Transportation

250 Frank H Ogawa Plaza \| Oakland, CA  94612

cream@oaklandca.gov