The Oakland-Alameda Estuary is a short 1000 foot span between Jack London Square and Alameda Point, but for those not willing or able to brave the treacherous, four-foot wide Posey Tube pathway the main bike route alternative is a long 7-mile detour to the Park Street Bridge.
Proposals to fix this via a direct, dedicated bike/walk bridge have been discussed since the early 2000s.
These efforts are starting to gain more attention as new housing development continues on both sides of the estuary and more people are looking for safe, sustainable, and affordable transportation options to reach destinations in Oakland and Alameda.
Oakland’s Bike Walk Commission Kicks Off the Conversation
In early July the Oakland Bike Walk Commission’s infrastructure committee, co-chaired by our own Advocacy Director Robert Prinz, scheduled a discussion with Alameda and Oakland transportation staff on the estuary bridge proposal.
These committee meetings are held every other month with the intention of making project information available to more people.
Knowing that most people can’t attend in-person, scheduled meetings, the committee publishes all presentation materials, detailed notes, and video recordings of each session, which can be accessed via the city website here:
These presentation materials include a map of potential bridge alignments, with our preferred alternative being the ones furthest to the west connecting from the ferry lawn to Alameda’s new Bohol Circle Immigrant Park (named after the first and oldest Filipino-American organization in the United States).
Local News Picks Up the Story
Several news outlets including Oaklandside (link below) picked up on the Oakland bike/walk committee discussion and ran their own articles about the project with additional details.
https://oaklandside.org/2023/07/26/bicycle-pedestrian-bridge-oakland-alameda-estuary/
One of these details included the unfortunate news that the bridge project is on a long timeline, with construction possibly not starting until 2030 even if everything goes smoothly.
But the good news is that a near-term, free water shuttle running 5 days per week will start service back and forth across the estuary in Spring 2023, thanks in part to funding support from Alameda County’s Measure BB sales tax that we helped win back in 2014.
Free Water Shuttle to Span the Gap
This isn’t the first time a water shuttle has been tried here. Back in the early 2000s a weekend service was provided for a small fee (screenshot below from our 2004 newsletter article), but shut down after a few years due to low use.
We anticipate that the ridership will be much greater this time due to increased service, more housing on both sides of the estuary, and public funding support to keep the trip free for all.
What You Can Do to Help
Learn more about the estuary bridge and water shuttle projects by clicking below to visit the City of Alameda project page and signing up for their mailing list:
Learn More Here
Our friends at Bike Walk Alameda maintain their project page as well, online at BikeWalkAlameda.org/estuary-crossing/.
You can also join our Bridging the Bay campaign list to receive updates on this and other bike bridge project news from around the East Bay, at BikeEastBay.org/BridgingTheBay.
