On March 20 we gathered Emeryville members to discuss their top safety projects for Emeryville. Thank you to those of you who came out and contributed your local knowledge and concerns to the conversation. The top three projects that rose to the top of our list throughout the discussions are:
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San Pablo Avenue;
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Stanford Avenue, and
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Bay Trail Connection east-west, either along Powell Street or nearby.
Runner-ups: Hollis Street and Mandela Parkway connection.
Map courtesy of The E’ville Eye.
San Pablo Avenue
A public planning process for redesigning San Pablo Avenue from Oakland to Albany will start in the 2nd half of 2017 led by the Alameda County Transportation Commission. Bike East Bay will be advocating for a cohesive plan that provides a seamless, continuous, safe and convenient bikeway for people of all ages and abilities.
As we wait for the public outreach process to begin, campaign volunteers will start outreaching to businesses and get more bike racks installed on the street to encourage more shopping by bike.
Stanford Avenue
Bike East Bay has applied for a UC Berkeley Chancellor’s grant to start a public process to develop a design concept (or vision) for a linear greenway along Stanford Ave/Adeline St/Shattuck Ave, connecting the Bay Trail to downtown Berkeley. While continuing to talk about this project and solicit interest, we are waiting to hear on our grant application before moving forward.
Bay Trail Connection east-west:
Emeryville staff have been asked to further study traffic conditions on Powell Street, to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety, between the 80 freeway and Christie Avenue cycle track.
Powell has long been a concern from residents – see our blog post from October 2016 on the freeway off-ramps crossing the Bay Trail). At this time, Caltrans has plans for improvements that will help prevent future collisions – including a no-right-turn-on-red light and further obstacles to freeway through traffic across Powell street.
A volunteer task is to start outreaching to businesses for their support in the long term.
Want to get involved? Email dave@bikeeastbay.org, or attend an upcoming Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Meeting (BPAC). The BPAC meets monthly (except August and December), on the 1st Monday of the month at 5:30pm. The meetings are typically held at City Hall (1333 Park Avenue, Emeryville) and are open for anyone to attend.