DATE: October 26, 2022
TO: Council Infrastructure Committee
FROM: Director of Public Works
SUBJECT: East Bay Greenway Multimodal Corridor Project Update
RECOMMENDATION
That the Council Infrastructure Committee (CIC) reviews and receives the update of the East Bay Greenway Multimodal Project from the Alameda County Transportation Commission staff.
SUMMARY
The Alameda County Transportation Commission (Alameda CTC) is the project sponsor and implementing agency for the East Bay Greenway Multimodal Project (Project) from the Lake Merritt Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station in Oakland to the South Hayward BART station in Hayward. Alameda CTC approved a near-term project implementation in December 2021 focusing on arterial improvements for an all ages and abilities facility for pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users. The Project incorporates near-term implementation strategies developed as part of Alameda CTC’s E. 14th Street/Mission Blvd/Fremont Boulevard Multimodal Project. The Project also evaluates placemaking elements and economic development elements.
The goals of the Project are to:
Provide safe, high-quality (Class I, buffered Class II or Class IV) options for biking for all ages and abilities Improve safety by physically separating bicyclists from high speed, high volume vehicular traffic to the extent feasible Create a continuous north/south bike facility connecting seven BART stations Improve access to regional transit, schools, downtown areas, and major activity centers Improve multimodal access to BART stations
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Alameda CTC coordinated, with City staff, their planning and development of public outreach strategies for this project and development of outreach materials that describe the Project need, Project delivery updates, public outreach opportunities in Hayward, and implementation schedule. In August 2022, public outreach for this Project began in Hayward with the goal of developing a conceptual plan that could respond to the present and future active transportation needs of the community along the Mission Blvd corridor, including access roads to the BART stations in Hayward. This informational item is an update regarding feedback on public outreach and how feedback is being considered in the development of the conceptual design.
BACKGROUND
The Project originally was proposed as a regional trail for bicycle and pedestrian uses, which would have linked BART stations throughout the inner East Bay, from Lake Merritt BART to South Hayward BART. The Project was to construct a bicycle and pedestrian facility generally following the BART alignment for a distance of 16 miles and traverse the cities of Oakland, San Leandro, and Hayward, as well as the unincorporated communities of Ashland and Cherryland. The Project would have connected seven BART stations as well as downtown areas, schools, and other major destinations. Due to funding deadline constraints and right-of-way acquisition lead-time, the project scope has been modified. The Project remains a 16-mile corridor between Lake Merritt BART and South Hayward BART traversing the same cities and unincorporated areas, but now instead of following the BART alignment, the Project will implement Class I, buffered Class II, and Class IV bicycle facilities to the extent feasible and multimodal improvements along the main E. 14th St./Mission Blvd. corridor as well as connecting roadways to BART stations. In Hayward, this includes A Street, Montgomery Street, C Street, Watkins Street, Fletcher Lane, and Tennyson Road. The near-term implementation would provide a continuous, high quality bicycle facility suitable for all ages and abilities, incorporating multimodal safety, transit, and placemaking elements. The Project will be constructed in 3-5 years, depending on securing funding for the construction phase.
The new Project implementation strategy includes the following elements:
High-quality pedestrian facilities and bicycle facilities for all ages and abilities: The conceptual Project proposes implementation of Class I, buffered Class II, and Class IV bicycle facilities along major streets. In Hayward, potential improvements are along Mission Boulevard from Fletcher Lane to Tennyson Road, as well as on the streets connecting to the BART stations, such as A Street, B Street, Montgomery St., and Tennyson Rd. Intersection crossings will also be improved as feasible with shorter and safer crosswalks. Whenever feasible on major intersections, the design includes protected intersection or dedicated intersection elements for bicyclists consistent with National Association City Transportation Officials (NACTO) Urban Bikeway Design guidance.
Transit reliability and access: The Project evaluates targeted rapid bus infrastructure that will improve access to transit, reliability, and reduce delays at bus stops. These potentially include transit islands, installation of Transit Signal Priority (TSP), and queue jumps where buses enter/leave the corridor to access BART stations.
Evaluation of parking availability: The Project also evaluates available parking and curb management to support multimodal treatments and business activity.
Placemaking: The placemaking element goal is to create a cohesive, visual identity for the corridor while also highlighting the unique character of specific districts.
DISCUSSION
The multimodal elements included in the Project vary from a Class I separated trail/multiuse path in some segments in Oakland, Class II buffered bicycle lanes, and/or Class IV protected bicycle lane elsewhere, pedestrian improvements, and transit improvements along the E14th St/Mission Blvd Corridor.
In Hayward, the Alameda CTC project team is in the process of evaluating several design options for the implementation of an all ages and abilities bicycle facility to close the gap in the bike network along Mission Blvd and to connect streets to BART stations. This evaluation is based on factors such as:
availability of street parking spaces,
predictability for all roadway users,
more direct and better access for cyclists, and
desire to have minimum number of conflict points.
While two of the Project goals are to improve safety and accommodate all users of the street along the project alignment, specific to Hayward, there will be significant tradeoffs that will impact street parking in the Downtown portion and along a segment of Mission Blvd. and traffic volume capacity on the Mission Blvd corridor. From Fletcher Lane to Carlos Bee Boulevard, there is limited curb-to-curb width for implementation of a Class IV bikeway while maintaining the landscaped median. This would result in the loss of one traffic lane in each direction. Further design stages could evaluate signal timing with coordinated signals to encourage driving speed at 35 mph while regulating the flow of traffic. Since there is no defined design concept yet, this analysis cannot be performed at this point to determine representative outcomes.
From Carlos Bee Boulevard to Tennyson Road, implementation of a Class IV bikeway would impact street parking. To understand the parking impacts of the Project, the Project team conducted a parking utilization and parking inventory survey. The survey was conducted in November 2021 on two weekdays (Tuesdays and Thursdays) and two Saturdays for three different time frames during the day (morning, midday, and evening). Results of the parking inventory and utilization survey vary by block, but in general, shows that most of the available parking in the study area is on off-street lots within 500’ of Mission Boulevard. Parking in most areas has not reached the critical demand (indicated by an occupancy of 85% or higher). However, businesses along this segment of Mission Blvd. have expressed that the dependency of on-street parking in front of and adjacent to their property as vital for patronization.
The results of the parking inventory and utilization survey paired with public outreach to be completed by mid-October will identify the parking impacts and aid in developing a conceptual Project’s cross section and resulting layout, which Alameda CTC will bring to the CIC in the summer 2023. The Project also includes high-visibility pedestrian crosswalks and protected intersections that separate users of each mode of transportation (i.e., pedestrians, bicycles, buses, and automobiles) to increase safety. In addition, the Project includes bus boarding islands, and will evaluate transit signal priority and queue jumps at key intersections to improve transit operations and reliability, as well as the need for additional crossings to reduce the distance of available marked crossings along Mission Boulevard.
A speed survey will be conducted along the corridor. The results of the survey show that current speeds increase as the roadway widens, which is the case in Hayward. Faster automobile speeds increase the severity of pedestrian and bike injuries. The Project design features, including decreased lane widths, visual separations such as intersection bulb outs, and signal coordination along the corridor, should reduce average speeds overall. The Project team is working closely with AC Transit to ensure that these safety countermeasures do not negatively impact transit operations along the corridor.
Additionally, the Project team is working with City staff on the implementation of innovative placemaking elements, such as pedestrian plazas, parklets, and public art that have the potential to support local businesses. Some of these improvements could be implemented with the proposed transportation projects, while others are improvements that could be implemented as redevelopment occurs along the corridor. The Project team has developed an integrated economic development strategy to identify potential for implementing placemaking and other economic development infrastructure with private projects.
City staff has concerns regarding the loss of parking in the Downtown area and along Mission Blvd. Residents and businesses in these areas are dependent on the amount of current parking and the loss of a significant amount of parking availability will cause hardship for the residents and will not meet the needs of patrons to the businesses. Staff also feels that because Mission Blvd. is a major arterial in the City, the elimination of a travel lane along Mission Blvd. necessary for a Class IV bike lane is infeasible and would cause increased traffic congestion along Mission Blvd. Increasing traffic congestion along Mission Blvd. would in turn trigger more congestion on streets connecting to Mission Blvd. from motorists seeking alternative routes to Mission Blvd. Given the benefits of providing for a bike lane at these locations, City staff is working cooperatively with Alameda CTC staff to determine the levels of impact, and whether they can be lowered to an acceptable level. As an alternative, City staff is also working closely with Alameda CTC staff to explore the potential and feasibility of raised sidewalks along Mission Blvd. consisting of walkways for pedestrians and a cycle track for bicyclists. This concept is similar to the configuration the City will implement with the construction of the Mission Blvd. Phase 3 project which tentatively will begin construction in the Spring of 2023. As with the Mission Blvd. 3 project, this would involve widening the sidewalk from the curb line by a few feet, relocating the street furniture, streetlights, traffic signals, signs, fire hydrants, etc., as well as addressing drainage and stormwater inlets that are currently at the curb line.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
The Project proposes to support economic development opportunities and enhance existing neighborhoods through complementary design elements that would expand pedestrian space, support urban greening elements, increase public use of the street, increase visual identity, and create opportunities for activating adjacent properties, such as surface parking and vacant lots.
FISCAL IMPACT
The project is funded by Alameda CTC, therefore there is no fiscal impact.
STRATEGIC ROADMAP
This agenda item supports the Strategic Priority of Improve Infrastructure. Specifically, this item relates to the implementation of the following project(s):
Project N1: Improve access and mobility in downtown Hayward Project N4d: Continue to require new development adopt transportation demand management strategies to reduce the use of single occupancy vehicles and encourage the use of alternative modes of travel
Project N8b: Add 10 lane miles of bike lanes per year
PUBLIC CONTACT
Beginning in August 2022, Alameda CTC staff has been engaging in public outreach along the project area in Hayward, which includes popup events, focus groups, a one-on-one business survey, and a residential mailer with an online survey.
During the months of August and September, Alameda CTC conducted four popups at the following locations:
Hayward Main Library August 11, 2022
Hayward’s Farmers’ Market August 27, 2022
South Hayward BART Station August 30, 2022
City Hall Plaza September 15, 2022
The one-on-one business outreach took place during the first two weeks of September and focused on receiving feedback on how businesses use street parking and their loading/unloading needs. Businesses along Mission Boulevard acknowledged if their property contained parking as well as on-street parking is present.
Interested individuals from the pop-up events and door-to-door outreach were encouraged to participate in a focus group that took place on September 28, 2022. The focus group included transit riders, cyclists and pedestrians, and business owners. This was done with the purpose of receiving input on safety concerns and multimodal travel needs from these targeted groups in the Hayward community.
Another component of outreach in Hayward includes a mailer to adjacent residential areas to invite them to submit input through a comment form available on the Alameda CTC’ s project website.
In addition to the public outreach, the Project team presented to the AC Transit/Hayward Interagency Local Committee at its meeting on September 16, 2022, and to the AC Transit Accessibility Committee and AC Transit Project Review committee in May this year to get feedback on accessibility issues along the project corridor.
The community outreach conducted over the last two months found strong support for implementation of safer bike and pedestrian infrastructure and raised safety concerns particularly for:
Fast vehicular speeds on Mission Blvd. and A Street
Improving safety at intersections for cyclists and pedestrians Consideration of business loading/unloading needs
This summary excludes input from the residential online survey as the survey was still going on at the time of this writing. A verbal update will be provided at the meeting on October 26, 2022.
NEXT STEPS
Based on public outreach input, analysis conducted to date, Alameda CTC, along with City staff, will develop a conceptual design with alternatives for the Project in Hayward. Staff will return with this item to the CIC in the summer of 2023. Environmental clearance for this project is expected in the summer of 2023 and final design development in late 2024. Construction is anticipated to start in late 2026, pending availability of funding through future opportunities such as the State’s Active Transportation Program, Solution for Congested Corridors, and Federal Safe Streets For All.
Prepared by: Kathy Garcia, Deputy Director of Public Works Recommended by: Alex Ameri, Director of Public Works
Approved by:
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Kelly McAdoo, City Manager