East Bay cities are learning how to do more, faster, by delivering protected bikeways alongside routine paving projects. Coordinating upgrades with paving is cost-effective, and an opportunity for cities to experiment with treatments outside of large state or federal grant-funded projects that usually have long timelines and many more requirements. Here are a few recent examples.
Berkeley: Hopkins Street
While the planning process for this project in North Berkeley has been long and contentious, and was saved on multiple occasions by our friends and partners at Walk Bike Berkeley, the construction alongside paving planned for Summer 2023 should be relatively swift.
This project will include a 2-way cycletrack on the south side of the street, protected in spots with either concrete curbs, car parking and posts, or concrete bus boarding islands. Read more about the project design and other details in our earlier post here.
Alameda: Grand Street
This project is also planned for construction with paving in 2023, after being resurrected from the dead by advocates at Bike Walk Alameda, who managed to bring it back for a re-vote of approval by city council earlier this month.
The design includes a 2-way cycletrack on the south side of Grand from Shore Line Dr to Otis Dr, and then one-way protected bikeways on each side from Otis to Encinal Ave. The bikeway will be separated by parked cars and posts, rubber curb stops, concrete bus boarding islands, and will connect to the existing concrete protected intersection at Otis. The concept design plan is available to review here.
Emeryville: 41st Street and Doyle Street
Flying under the radar with a lot less controversy than the Berkeley or Alameda projects, Emeryville’s 2022 paving project under construction right now includes new 2-way cycletracks on a block of 41st Street from Adeline to San Pablo Ave, and on Doyle Street curving around to 47th Street connecting to Emery High School. The city is also adding semi-protected concrete intersections along Adeline Street from 47th Street down to 41st Street, to help slow turning cars and prevent bikeway blockages.
You can read more about the project on the city’s project page here, and view the construction plans here.
Oakland: Grand Ave and Upper MLK Jr Way
These two Oakland projects are being prepped for construction with paving planned for 2024, and they each include concrete curb-protected bikeways on both sides of the street, concrete protected intersections, concrete bus boarding islands with bike channels, and significant pedestrian crossing upgrades. The design for each of these projects is still in the works but you can view the concept plans for Grand Ave (Broadway to Elwood) here, and for MLK Jr Way (47th St to the Berkeley border) here.
The Oakland Department of Transportation has more info and a survey for Grand Ave available at www.oaklandca.gov/projects/grand, and for the MLK Jr Way project at www.oaklandca.gov/projects/mlk-paving.
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If there are any other East Bay paving + protected bikeway projects coming up that you are aware of, let us know! You can also help by spreading the word to elected officials and city staff about the projects listed above, and ask that they try the same thing in your city. We at Bike East Bay can help make connections between staff members in various cities to share tips and info.