Somebody painted bike lanes on the freshly repaved street.
The City of Oakland was sued in 2000 for a project that would have extended
the bicycle lanes from Aileen St into downtown Oakland. The judge directed
the City to do additional studies and environmental review, particularly to
assess the potential impacts of removing left-turn pockets. (The bicycle
lanes were to be added with the space created by removing these pockets.) The
City of Oakland completed a significant portion of this work and then AC
Transit introduced their proposal for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) that would
include dedicated bus lanes on Telegraph Ave. The original bicycle lane
project is incompatible with the BRT project. However, AC Transit has
developed an alternative that would include both bus lanes and bicycle lanes
(and a lot less on-street parking).
In 2000 or 2001 the study was started. It is now 2008. The study should
have been completed and the bike lanes should be implemented – NOW.
The BRT, while interesting, and may someday be implemented, is entirely out of
consideration for what is taking place today. There is no BRT today and no
one knows when, or if, the BRT will appear. I fail to see any logic behind
the lack of coordination of even temporarily installing bike lanes until, or
if, the BRT arrives. When that happens all the issues are back up in the air
and we start all over. Therefore the bike lanes should be installed * not
stalled.
If this projects proceeds, we will have to grind and repaint all the stripes
all over. Quit wasting our time and money. Public safety should be
paramount. Put in the bike lanes now.
Sincerely,
Ron Bishop