Road diets and new bike lanes for Adeline St and Grand Ave and improved bike lanes for 14th St west of Market – real progress!
​Despite loading zone concerns from the Ocho Candy Factory on Adeline St, on July 15 Oakland City Council approved the West Oakland Specific Plan. In the Plan are road diets and new bike lanes for Adeline St and Grand Ave and improved bike lanes for 14th St west of Market.
This is progress and will start to fill out a convenient network of bike lanes in one of Oakland’s more bikeable neighborhoods West Oakland, connecting residents with Downtown, the Port of Oakland, Emeryville and Berkeley to the north, and soon to the Bay Trail and bike path on the new Bay Bridge.
I am very excited about the approval for new bicycle lanes on Adeline St. and West Grand Ave. The plan includes much needed improvements to significant bicycle routes in West Oakland with heavy car and truck traffic. As a cyclist for work and play, I will feel much more comfortable riding with cars, buses, trucks and pedestrians on these busy routes with the installation of bicycle lanes. Clear bicycle routes inform cyclists and motorists how to conduct themselves safely and considerately, and I definitely appreciate the cooperation from everyone on the road as we try to get from here to there in our busy lives.
Elise Marie Heikkinen, West Oakland resident and Bike East Bay supporter.
Concerns exist from the West Oakland Commerce Association who want loading zones and on-street parking retained on Adeline St in front of several local businesses on the 30th St block of Adeline St, including Ocho Candy. Bike East Bay is working with these businesses and Oakland Public Works to resolve the issue. Stay tuned as we push for these new bike lanes in 2015.
City of Oakland website for West Oakland Specific Plan
New streetscape improvements planned for West Oakland
AC Transit again wrote a staunch letter in opposition, fearing congestion 30 years in the future on Grand Avenue. We love AC Transit and working with them to improve streets with convenient transportation alternatives to driving. However, 30 years in the future is no reason to maintain intimidating streets today. The best way to improve bus service is giving people more options to driving, and this includes walking (pedestrian safety improvements), bicycling (new bikeways) and better bus service (Yes On Measure BB November 4, 2014). With these improvements, collectively people will start replacing some car trips with a better commute and thereby improve streets for all people.
Background Info on the Plan
The purpose of the West Oakland Specific Plan is to develop comprehensive, multi-faceted strategies for facilitating the development of selected vacant and/or underutilized commercial and industrial properties within the West Oakland community (see map for Key Sites). The Plan will be a tool for supporting, attracting and developing commercial and industrial enterprises to provide jobs and services needed by the West Oakland community and the city of Oakland at large.
The Specific Plan will explore a range of issues such as land use, economic and market conditions, infrastructure deficiencies, transportation, public safety and security and other relevant factors, to identify development challenges for the selected properties (Opportunity Sites) within the Specific Plan area; it will then devise a comprehensive implementation strategy to assist the City of Oakland (City) and Oakland Redevelopment Agency (ORA) (now Redevelopment Successor Agency) in refining its economic development planning for the area. The Plan will serve as a concise, consistent way to communicate the preferred development strategies for the Opportunity Sites and in this respect will serve as a marketing tool to attract developers to these key sites.
The Specific Plan will support more mixed-use development and transit choices in West Oakland, present strategies for resolving conflicting land uses, and provide a framework for developing undervalued and blighted sites. Developed in partnership by the City, ORA, affected property owners, and adjacent business and residential communities, the West Oakland Specific Plan will help convey a mutually agreed-upon vision and development strategy that will provide private investors and public agencies such as BART and Caltrans, the assurance that the City will support, and in certain cases partner with them to undertake development of properties in West Oakland.