In August 2023 we were devastated to learn about a crash that occurred on Lakeshore Ave at Hanover in Oakland, which took the life of four-year-old Maia Correia.
Maia was in a child seat on her father’s bike, riding in the painted bike lake on Lakeshore Ave when the driver of a parked car opened a door into their path, causing them to crash.
Though wearing a helmet, Maia suffered a traumatic brain injury and was not able to recover.
More details about this incident were reported by Oaklandside’s Jose Fermoso here.
A COMMUNITY RESPONSE
We were connected with Maia’s family via a mutual friend soon after the crash. In coordination with them we worked to bring more media attention to this tragedy, and plan a memorial in September 2023 along with our friends at Traffic Violence Rapid Response, Walk Oakland Bike Oakland, and Transport Oakland.
Oakland DOT staff members and Oakland elected officials also participated, including the District’s Councilwoman Nikki Fortunato Bas.
We invited the family members to speak at Oakland’s Bicyclist and Pedestrian Advisory Commission meeting, where comments made by Maia’s grandmother Hydeh Ghaffari brought many participants to tears.
Hydeh’s call was both for a strong infrastructure response at this location to ensure the same thing never happens again, as well as throughout Oakland to protect families in all neighborhoods.
With this in mind we started visualizing what a separated bikeway completely protected from car door conflicts could look like along Lakeshore Ave (our concept below), and all the way around Lake Merritt.
Our resulting Lake Merritt Loop campaign tracks each segment and helps people access info get involved and stay informed.
OAKDOT's Quick Build Cycletrack
An appeal letter to the Mayor asking for fast action on protected bikeway upgrades along Lakeshore Avenue was submitted on September 11, 2023, endorsed by Bike East Bay and our local partners.
In response, Oakland DOT agreed to install a two-way protected bikeway along the west side of Lakeshore Ave from E 18th to El Embarcadero.
This will be the most substantial quick-build protected bikeway in Oakland to date, with construction starting in late 2024 following a planned utility project on the corridor.
The first public look at the design plans occurred at the March 6, 2024, meeting of the Oakland bike/walk commission’s infrastructure committee, a group that was established by our Advocacy Director Robert back in 2017.
The meeting also included design review for a protected bikeway project on Seminary Ave where a woman named Mara Delaney was hit and killed by a driver in a separate crash in 2023.
Project details and links to design concept files for both projects are available in the meeting notes here. The Lakeshore project includes a concrete curb-separated cycletrack along the lakeside, concrete bus boarding islands with bike channels, and pedestrian crossing upgrades.
This high-quality work is made possible in large part to Oakland’s Measure U funding that we helped campaign to win in 2022.
What's Next?
The utility project construction along Lakeshore will start this summer, while the cycletrack project detailed design is being completed. Once that work is nearing completion Oakland DOT will take over to begin construction on the bikeway which, will then continue into 2025.
If all goes well we hope to see this new facility open for riders before the two year anniversary of Maia’s crash.
This is rather incredible for a project of this scope, compared to other protected bikeways which can sometimes take 10 years or more from concept to completion.
We know that there are similar traffic safety issues on many more streets and are hopeful that this experience can provide an example to bring similar attention and fast action to other corridors across Oakland and around the East Bay.
Thank You...
… to all the community partners who advocated with us to advance the project, to the Oakland city staff and elected officials who supported the upgrade and are working on designs, and to everyone who campaigned and voted for Measure U to fund it.
A special thanks goes to Maia’s family for collaborating with us on this response, including Maia’s grandmother Hydeh Ghaffari who this year joined the Bike East Bay Board of Directors in support of the continued vision for a healthy and sustainable East Bay.
