1 Exhibit 2
Neighborhood Greenway and Slow Street Background
NEIGHBORHOOD GREENWAYS
Alameda’s Active Transportation Plan (ATP), adopted in 2022, included a new facility type called “Neighborhood Greenways. ” They are streets designed to give priority to people walking and bicycling, and to allow bicyclists and motorists to safely share the road on low-volume, low-speed, local streets. Used in cities across the country, these comfortable, low-stress bikeways additionally improve walking safety and calm traffic. Often called “bicycle boulevards, ” they are a recognized facility type by the National Association of Transportation Officials (NACTO).
Treatments on Greenways are much more extensive than on bicycle routes, which only have painted shared lane markings and signage. They are also distinct from Slow Streets and do not include barricades. The key Neighborhood Greenway goals, as defined in the A T P, a r e :
• Achieve and Maintain Low Vehicle Volumes and Speeds. Neighborhood Greenway streets are only considered low stress when the traffic volumes and speeds are low enough that people biking feel comfortable sharing the roadway space with cars. Reducing traffic speeds and volumes increases safety for all roadway users and improves neighborhood livability.
• Make Street Crossings Safer and More Comfortable. Neighborhood Greenways also include treatments to improve crossings, particularly at busy intersections, to make it easier and safer for people bicycling and walking to cross busy streets.
Why Neighborhood Greenways?
One central goal of the 2022 ATP is to develop a connected, low-stress bikeway network that allows people of all ages and abilities to connect to schools, jobs, transit, shopping and recreation.
Neighborhood Greenways, along with separated bike lanes and off-street paths, will together create this network, which is essential for meeting Alameda’s climate, safety and transportation goals.
Low-stress bikeways are key to increasing the number of people biking. In a 2019 statistically- significant survey conducted by experts in the field, nearly half (46%) of Alameda residents were defined as “Interested but Concerned” about biking, meaning they don’t feel very comfortable riding in standard bike lanes, but they are either interested in starting to bike or biking more, or they indicated they are most comfortable using low-stress bikeways.
These low-stress facilities need to be connected to each other and evenly spaced in both north- south and east-west directions. Alameda is moving towards having low-stress bikeways circling the edges of the island and has east-west bikeways already built or under construction on the more northern and southern sides of the island. The gaps are in center of the island, both for north-south and east-west connections. Neighborhood Greenways will complete the low-stress network in these locations where streets are narrower and there is no room for new off-street trails or separated bike lanes.
2 Which streets are Neighborhood Greenways?
While Alameda does not have any Neighborhood Greenways today, the ATP includes nine Neighborhood Greenway streets, totaling 10 miles to be implemented by 2030, called the “2030 Low-Stress Backbone Network” (see map in Exhibit 1). These include three of the existing four Slow Streets.
Neighborhood Greenway Limits
Pacific Avenue Marshall Way to Park St
San Antonio Avenue/San Jose Avenue/Morton St Ninth to Fernside Versailles (Fernside to Calhoun), Calhoun (Versailles to Mound), Mound (Calhoun to Waterton), Waterton (Mound
to Court), Court (Waterton to Bayview)
[see left]
Third Street Central Ave to Ralph Appezzato
Memorial Parkway
Eighth Street Jean Sweeney Park to Pacific Ave
Ninth Street Pacific Ave to San Antonio
Chestnut Street Clement Ave to San Jose Ave
Lincoln Avenue/Garfield Avenue Park to Fernside
Bayview Drive Broadway to Otis Dr
SLOW STREETS
Alameda first implemented "soft" closures of select Alameda streets to through traffic in 2020. The program aimed to facilitate physical distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. By limiting automobile traffic on these streets, the City created more places for the community to safely walk, run, bike, scooter and roll, in alignment with its Vision Zero, Active Transportation and Climate Action efforts to provide safer and more sustainable ways for everyone to get around.
In 2021, staff conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the Slow Streets program, with public engagement, to gather input on the impact of the Slow Streets program and opinions on if and how to continue the program. At its December 2021 meeting, the City Council recommended continuing the program until recommendations for the Slow Streets in the Active Transportation Plan (ATP) were made and implemented. This approach was re-affirmed at the Council's December 2022 meeting when the ATP was adopted, which included the following:
3 • Pacific Avenue, San Jose Avenue, and Versailles Avenue, all current Slow Streets, will become Neighborhood Greenways. These three streets were originally slated to be converted by the end of this year (2024), but that implementation schedule was delayed after other transportation priorities arose. The Greenways on these streets will now be completed one year later, by the end of 2025, as proposed in the implementation strategy described in the next section.
• Santa Clara Avenue, the fourth existing Slow Street is not proposed to be a Neighborhood Greenway, but the Slow Street will remain in place until the Central Ave Safety Improvement Project is completed, to provide an alternative low-stress bikeway during the Central Ave construction from late-2024 through early 2026. Once the separated bike lanes open on Central Ave, the barricades on Santa Clara Ave will be removed.