Photo: Seventh Street Connection Project, City of Oakland

From across the state of California, four hundred and fifty-four projects focused on active forms of transportation applied for Active Transportation Program (ATP) funding. Last week, forty-nine made it through to be recommended by the California Transportation Commission. Three of those projects will be right here in the East Bay. In Oakland, two projects will build out much needed connections with six-miles of improvements in East Oakland, and 7th Street upgrades between BART and Downtown in West Oakland. In Bay Point, a new cycletrack will be coming to Bailey Road, in concert with projects in the works to build out better connections to the Delta De Anza Trail, BART, and more.

Check out the full round up below, and support fantastic bike lanes coming soon by becoming a Bike East Bay member today!

Oakland

The East Oakland Neighborhood Bike Routes project will result in a high-quality build out of a large section of the city’s bike plan all at once, instead of the typical piecemeal network implementation. The project includes repaving, new sidewalks and curb ramps, and traffic calming on four neighborhood routes in deep East Oakland covering 6 miles. In addition, the concept plans include cut-throughs of existing medians on streets like Bancroft Ave. and E 14th St., with bike signals, allowing for though bike/walk access where there is none currently. More information about the project is available on the City of Oakland website, and via the June 2020 Oakland bike/walk commission’s infrastructure committee meeting notes.

The 7th Street Connection Project runs between West Oakland BART and Downtown Oakland, with protected bikeways, protected intersections, widened sidewalks, pedestrian lighting, street trees, upgraded crosswalks, and bus-only lanes included. There is a lot of new development planned around the BART station, including affordable housing construction via which Bike East Bay’s education program has already been funded to provide bike classes and encouragement for families as part of a separate grant. Information on the project is available on the City of Oakland website and in the August 2020 Oakland bike/walk commission meeting notes.

Both of these Oakland projects are based on needs identified in community-sourced area plans like the West Oakland Specific Plan, the East Oakland Neighborhoods Initiative, and Oakland’s award-winning 2019 citywide bike plan update. Additional stakeholder engagement will be performed by city staff to further hone the project designs and ensure the outcomes center the needs of longtime residents.        

Bay Point

In Bay Point, the North Bailey Road Active Transportation Corridor received $6.15 million for 2023-24 construction. Given how the East Bay nearly struck out on Active Transportation Program (ATP) funding two years ago, this is great news.

The North Bailey Road project will narrow four travel lanes to accommodate a two way cycle track on the west side of Bailey Road, from the Delta de Anza Trail south to Canal Road. Accessible curb ramps, expanded sidewalks, crosswalk enhancements, and the separated cycle track will be an improvement for all modes of active transportation. Bike East Bay has been active with the County, City of Pittsburg, and BART in this area to better connect neighborhoods with the Delta de Anza Trail, Mokelumne Trail, Pittsburg/Bay Point BART, and retail stores for many years now.

Thanks to that long-term advocacy, the upgrades on North Bailey Road will be preceded by many complementary projects currently in the works. Crossing at Bailey Road and the Delta de Anza Trail is now safer for people who walk and ride thanks to the completed Delta de Anza Trail Gap Closure/Crossing Signalization project. The Bay Point Utility Undergrounding project, which began construction in 2019, includes relocation of utilities and removes joint poles that are barriers to mobility in the area. The State Route 4 and Bailey Road Interchange project, located immediately south of this project and funded through a previous ATP cycle, will begin construction in 2021 and eliminate the daunting crossing of the SR 4 freeway off ramp. And finally, Pittsburg/Bay Point BART’s new cycle track under development will provide a direct, two-way connection into and out of the BART station from the aforementioned intersection of SR 4 and Bailey Road. 

What’s Next?

Later this spring, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission will release its recommendations for the regional (Bay Area) round of 2021 Active Transportation Program projects, with a total of $37 million to be awarded. Last year Richmond received a $700,000 quick-build ATP grant for two-way protected bikeways along Hoffman Blvd. and Cutting Blvd. to connect the Richmond Ferry with Point Richmond along the Bay Trail and provide safe access to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. Construction should start this year.

So, in total four projects for the East Bay so far: pretty good and very much needed. The full list of projects, recommend and below the award cut off score, are available on the Active Transportation Program website, in case you want to know how your city’s grant application scored.

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