Advocacy work is fun, but not always sexy. Lately, your Bike East Bay advocacy team has been doing a lot of work behind the scenes. Here’s a quick peek beneath our cluttered desks.
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Bus Rapid Transit comes to International Boulevard/E.12th Street in Oakland and San Leandro with bike lanes along about half of the project. But at 73rd Avenue, proposed bike lanes were removed to add a traffic lane. We just got AC Transit to agree to study returning the bIke lanes to the project;
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Measure J Reauthorization continues to bob and weave in Contra Costa County. Last week we attend five meetings of various combinations of staff, consultants, elected officials and stakeholder groups. Your chance to get in on the fun comes in March, when we will need to make a strong showing of support for bike/ped monies; -
Lafayette Roundabout is still chunky and needs to go on a diet. The Circulation Commission shot us down, but we have not given up. We are pushing for a flexible construction design that allows for a future road diet with bike lanes;
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Oakland’s Department of Transportation (DOT) has been approved and Bike East Bay spoke at City Council last week and at Public Works Committee the week before in support. We are also working with Fremont and Richmond to share best practices for DOT’s with Oakland and get a superstar Director hired right away; -
Brentwood is ready to get back to work on reconnecting the bikeway along Lone Tree Way, severed a decade ago by State Route 4 Bypass. Bike East Bay super volunteer Bruce Ole Ohlson met with Brentwood’s City Manager and next week we meet with the Joint Powers Authority for the Bypass;
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BART is placing a bond measure on the 2016 November ballot to fix its aging equipment and reduce crowding in the system. We are regularly meeting with BART General Manager Grace Crunican and her staff to maximize funding to improve bicycling to BART and double secure bike parking; -
State Active Transportation Program funding Cycle 3 returns this year, with another $120 million available statewide. East Bay cities secured over $45 million in the first two cycles, and we have started meeting with city staff to ensure your favorite projects are submitted as grant applications;
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Cap ‘n Trade Affordable Housing Transportation Funds are available, $300 million worth. We are talking with Oakland and Fremont on their potential projects, and will be talking with more cities soon. This is an attractively large pot of money and your city should apply. There might be an opportunity here to fund bikeshare equity programs.
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Milvia Street Bikeway in Berkeley continues to get our attention. We have been meeting with local businesses and property owners to talk about a better bikeway through Berkeley’s busy downtown area. There is lots of support but the issue will come down to parking.
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Downtown Concord bike lanes: We’re working with staff to make sure that drawings made 3 years ago for an OBAG application can be improved to include buffers and green paint in conflict zones to increase connections between BART, Todos Santos Plaza, Ellis Park and other key areas.
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New CEQA Transportation Guidelines are out and they look good. We will feature this in an upcoming eblast, as for now we are busy studying new language that says automobile delay no longer matters;
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Pinole Valley Road could use bike lanes. In fact, Pinole may hold the record as the East Bay city with the most bikeways that end at its city line, in a bad way. We are road tripping up north this weekend and will be joined by two Bike East Bay member volunteers who live in Pinole and want to fix the street;
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Diablo Road in Danville was the subject of a recent lawsuit about development and bike safety. Bike East Bay joined a successful appellate defense of a legal ruling that bicycle safety matters when new development occurs. We are working with Danville on a workable methodology to study bicycle safety in suburban roads such as Diablo Road.
Look for updates on these efforts and more soon in an upcoming Bike East Bay eblast. Not getting our eblasts yet? Sign up here.