City Council
September 20, 2022
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Edward D. Reiskin FROM: Fred Kelley
City Administrator Director, Oakland
Department of
Transportation
SUBJECT: SUPPLEMENTAL – Report with
Recommendations on Traffic Calming
DATE: August 30, 2022
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Receive A Report With Recommendations For Improving And Expediting Traffic Calming Installations Throughout Needed Locations In Oakland, Including Completion Of Installation Of Approved Speed Bumps, And Recommended Budget Adjustments To Provide For Ongoing Capacity To Ensure Traffic Safety And Pedestrian Safety Improvements Are Completed Timely Throughout Oakland, Including Status Of Implementing Traffic Calming Funding From The Current Budget.
REASON FOR SUPPLEMENTAL
At the June 21, 2022 City Council meeting, staff was asked to provide a supplemental report addressing the following for the September 20, 2022 City Council Meeting:
Vice Mayor Kaplan motioned that this item be continued to the first Council meeting of September and requested a section to be added on the status and plan for expediting the hiring of the road crews.
The following updates are supplemental to previous reports provided on April 19th, May 17th and June 21st, 2022.
Item 1. Status and plan for expediting the hiring of the road crews.
Oakland Department of Transportation (OakDOT) continues to work to reduce high vacancy rates in street maintenance positions.
According to the latest position control report from August 2022: :
• Supervisor I: 8 budgeted positions and 2 vacant (25% vacancy rate) – OPW completing review of the existing list
• Street Maintenance Leader: 19 budgeted positions and 4 vacant (21% vacancy rate) – Pre-Recruitment Checklist completed
Sep 1, 2022
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: SUPPLEMENTAL –Report with Recommendations on Traffic Calming Date: August 30, 2022 Page 2
City Council
September 20, 2022
• Maintenance Worker: 36 budgeted positions, 10 vacant (28% vacancy rate) – Pre- Recruitment Checklist completed
• Heavy Equipment Operator: 6 budgeted positions, 4 vacant (67% vacancy rate) – Exam underway
• Concrete Finisher: 7 budgeted positions, 4 vacant (57% vacancy rate) - Pre-Recruitment Checklist completed
Oakland is not the only city experiencing high vacancy rates.. Vacancy rates for these public works positions for neighboring jurisdictions are listed below.
San
Jose
San
Francisco Berkeley Concord Fremont Richmond Vallejo Oakland Public
Works 25.40% 26.32% 14.67% 19.73% 10.23% 17.26% 20.00% 20.27%
To address these vacancies, since the last update, the City is taking the following actions:
• The City Council approved a five percent (5%) general wage increase effective July 2022, along with select equity increases, which will be incorporated into upcoming recruitments, and should assist in all recruiting efforts, including maintenance workers. • OakDOT and Oakland Public Works (OPW) have established regular meetings to strategize together on shared street maintenance positions. These conversations allow the two departments to identify and work through recruitment challenges as well as work together on outreach plans once recruitments are live.
• OakDOT continues to collaborate closely with Human Resources Management (HRM) to ensure that its limited recruitment resources are focused on the highest priority recruitments, which include these frontline worker categories. • OakDOT continues to utilize HRM’s consultants to the greatest extent possible to increase recruitment bandwidth.
• HRM has filled a vacant Manager of Recruitment Position; this critical position oversees the City’s hiring processes.
• The City Administration is working with HRM and OakDOT to further evaluate the recruitment process to identify efficiencies. HRM is ready to work with SEIU to explore efficiencies for the entry-level classification that will feed the promotional pipeline for higher levels.
Item 2. Updates on the 7th & Filbert and Foothill & 35th traffic calming measures and 2022 Speed Bump Installation
7th & Filbert: There are no updates from the June 2022 report. OakDOT will install an interim Essential Places treatment – an approach that was developed from the Slow Streets- Essential Places program, by the end of 2022. This treatment will be a “lane drop” to reduce the number of through-traffic lanes approaching the existing crosswalk from three to two in each direction.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: SUPPLEMENTAL –Report with Recommendations on Traffic Calming Date: August 30, 2022 Page 3
City Council
September 20, 2022
Foothill & 35th: There are no updates from the June 2022 report. In response to multiple incidents involving motorists losing control and crossing over lanes or running onto the sidewalk on Foothill just northwest of 35th Avenue, OakDOT installed multiple, high-visibility curve warning signs in 2020. Upon further examination of the delineated curvature of the two westbound approach lanes, and after additional crashes were reported after the installation, OakDOT plans to reduce the number of westbound through lanes from two to one. The goal is to calm approach traffic in advance of the intersection and to provide a longer turning radius, making the turn less sharp. This will be done by converting one of the through lanes to a dedicated left turn pocket in the westbound direction. Design is underway with plans to install when the road is repaved. Construction is being coordinated with on-going paving efforts, given the magnitude of changes needed to the roadway design. The improvements are anticipated to take place between Summer and Fall 2023, contingent on the paving schedule. Additional warning signage was installed at the location in April 2022 in the interim.
Pending Speed Bumps: OakDOT has secured a contractor to construct over 80 speed bumps throughout the City by November 2022. Construction began on Monday, August 15th and will be complete by November 2022. A list of speed bump applications is available at the bottom of the OakDOT speed bump webpage: https://cao- 94612.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/2022-6-21_Speed-Bump-Webpage.pdf. This link includes the locations of applications that will be constructed in 2022, as well as those under review for construction at a future date. Now that applications under review are being installed, OakDOT is working to identify the delivery mechanism for next year as we simultaneously work to increase OakDOT’s staffing and capacity for delivery in response to growing demand for safety improvements.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: SUPPLEMENTAL –Report with Recommendations on Traffic Calming Date: August 30, 2022 Page 4
City Council
September 20, 2022
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Receive A Report With Recommendations, For Improving And Expediting Traffic Calming Installations Throughout Needed Locations In Oakland, Including Completion Of Installation Of Approved Speed Bumps, And Recommended Budget Adjustments To Provide For Ongoing Capacity To Ensure Traffic Safety And Pedestrian Safety Improvements Are Completed Timely Throughout Oakland, Including Status Of Implementing Traffic Calming Funding From The Current Budget.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Megan Wier, Safe Streets Division Manager, at [email protected]
.
Respectfully submitted,
FRED KELLEY
Director, Department of Transportation
Reviewed by:
Ariel Espiritu Santo, Assistant Director
Prepared by:
Megan Wier, Division Manager
Joe Wang, Supervising Transportation
Engineer
Safe Streets Division