On Wednesday, September 21, our advocacy team was deployed at three seperate meetings in Central and South Alameda County. Here’s a snapshot of the evening to give you an idea of what goes on at these meetings, and the work your Bike East Bay advocates do.
Alameda County Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee
While generally a depressing affair, an otherwise discouraging quarterly bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee (BPAC) meeting ended on an upbeat note, when County Supervisor Nate Miley, making a rare appearance, agreed to look into having the BPAC committee meet more regularly and have more input in project designs earlier in the process before designs are finalized. He also said he would have a staff discussion on whether design review would also include review of repaving projects (as the committee has repeatedly requested).
To staff’s credit, on the agenda was a discussion of the role and responsiblity of the BPAC, and the ensueing discussion was quite frank. Many residents voiced frustration with how one sided the conversations between staff and the public are about project designs. Not surprisingly, staff was taken aback by it all. However, to staff’s credit, they listended and agreed to come back with some proposals for better public involvemet in how projects are developed and designed. Bike East Bay also requested that the BPAC be allowed to review and provide input on staff’s annual workplans related to transportation projects, and they agreed to this. Progress….
Bay Fair BART Specific Plan
Community Organizer Susie Hufstader headed to San Leandro for the second community workshop on designs for the Bay Fair BART Specific Plan. This project is in one of the region’s priority development areas (PDA) and is slated for a full redevelopment. The vision for Bay Fair is to transform the area “from mall to village.” In addition to mixed-use development, the plan will include redesigned streets and new public spaces, including plazas and parks. Better bicycle and pedestrian access to the BART station will be a major element of the design.
Major improvements for bicycling are coming, including proposed protected bike lanes along Hesperian Blvd, and buffered bike lanes on East 14th Street.
The Bay Fair BART Specific Plan is still in its early and conceptual stages, and the City of San Leandro is seeking input from the community. At this Wednesday’s meeting, consultants and staff gave a brief presentation, then gave community members an opportunity to fill in their own maps, vote on their preferred designs, and offer ideas for the vision of the entire project.
Even though the meeting was not specifically for bicyclists, people Susie spoke to responded positively to the idea of protected bikeways, and sticker-dot voted overwhelmingly in favor of street redesigns with separated and buffered bikeways.
Fremont Bicycle and Pedestrian Technical Advisory Committee
Further down South, 20 residents attended a planning meeting in Fremont to discuss, amongst other things, the draft “All Ages and Abilities bikeway network” for the Bike Master Plan update.
>> map
As if that wasn’t enough for a Wednesday night, here’s a recap from Mayor Libby Shaaf on what was going on in Oakland:
“Last night, Oakland reached a major milestone in adjusting our planning policies and practices to promote a sustainable transportation system and city last night. The Planning Commission unanimously-approved moving forward to implement Senate Bill 743 by replacing an out-dated and misleading measurement (Level of Service, or LOS) from our analysis of a project’s transportation impacts under CEQA and with the more useful measurement of Vehicle Miles Traveled. By asking the right questions, we can provide more housing in Oakland and reduce the air and climate pollution from cars. Oakland is on the forefront of this effort, along with a few other cities including San Francisco.
I would like to acknowledge the very effective collaboration between the Planning and Building Department, Public Works and our new Department of Transportation – and the tremendous work of our Planning Commission and the City staff, including Sarah Fine, Christina Ferracane, Iris Starr, Mark Wald, Matt Nichols, and Jeff Tumlin. I also know that Oakland resident Sahar Shirazi has been doing great work for the State’s Office of Policy and Research on this effort for a long time.
We still have work to do to fully implement this change but I want to make sure we take a moment to appreciate the significance of last night.”