18th St. is one of Oakland’s most dangerous. Here’s how the city is fixing it

The town will quickly enhance one in every of West Oakland’s most harmful streets for driving, biking and strolling.

In accordance with Oakland transportation division employees who spoke at a current assembly of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Fee’s infrastructure committee, the town is anticipated to remove lanes in what’s being referred to as a “highway weight loss plan” and add crosswalks, buffered bike lanes and pedestrian islands. These adjustments are a part of the 18th Avenue Full Streets Paving Undertaking, which has been within the planning levels for years – and has lengthy been on the want checklist of native residents.

“We’re enthusiastic about this undertaking as a result of by our paving program we will implement plenty of long-planned and funded enhancements to 18th Avenue in West Oakland,” Elliott Goodrich, a transportation planner for OakDOT liable for the undertaking, mentioned on the Jan. 22 assembly. “We’re additionally enthusiastic about this undertaking as a result of your entire design course of can be carried out in-house.”

One in all 18th Avenue’s largest design flaws, based on OakDOT, is that it is extremely large but has little vehicular visitors. This mixture encourages rushing and makes it much less protected for pedestrians and cyclists. A long time of research have discovered that large native streets encourage drivers to hurry, and the survival rate for people hit by speeding drivers decreases as individuals drive quicker. Half of all individuals hit by a driver going 60 miles per hour die.

A project page created by the town mentioned 16 collisions occurred on 18th Avenue between 2019 and 2023, together with three involving cyclists. The road’s width is a historic remnant of West Oakland’s design, which gave precedence to vehicles heading towards the Cypress Freeway.

A decade of ready

Funds for this undertaking had been accredited earlier this decade by a significant Affordable housing and sustainable communities Grant, whose primary residential component, a 240-unit reasonably priced housing complicated at Mandela Station, a brand new improvement on the West Oakland BART station, has additionally lastly impending constructionwith the builders saying they count on to interrupt floor in Might. The grant makes use of state cap-and-trade cash for transport initiatives that connect with public transport.

The undertaking took so lengthy that a part of the stretch on 18th Avenue from Wooden Avenue to Brush Avenue was paved in different methods, akin to the event of the Prescott Market and the Oakland Ballers’ ballpark. OakDOT officers mentioned on the assembly that for the reason that improved highway will permit cyclists entry to the stadium, they’ll possible work with the workforce to advertise the brand new highway design to cyclists.

Rob Prinz, Bike East Bay’s advocacy director, informed The Oaklandside that this undertaking, mixed with the development of the protected bike lane on 14th Avenue Downtown, which is nearing completion, “will create a reasonably good ‘Protected Routes to Baseball’ initiative that may deliver much more bikers to Ballers video games within the close to future.”

David Pené, the OakDOT worker liable for the design of the 18th Avenue undertaking, mentioned the delay has one silver lining: It has allowed the town so as to add much more visitors calming interventions by having time to speak with different stakeholders, such because the Oakland Fireplace Division.

“It may very well be velocity bumps, it may very well be velocity cushions, or it may very well be velocity tables,” Pené mentioned of the additions. He mentioned extra pedestrian security islands close to DeFremery Park and on the Adeline and Market intersections are within the offing.

The undertaking will take away all remaining unused rail strains within the space to create extra full, safer and simpler to navigate sidewalks.

On the BPAC assembly, OakDOT officers mentioned they had been contemplating including a scholar drop-off and pick-up space to KIPP, comparable in dimension and ambition to Berkeley Excessive’s two-block pickup and drop-off location. However they mentioned the division decided it was too costly an endeavor for the present undertaking price range.

Because of the prolonged delays, many residents have forgotten concerning the highway redesign, so Pené mentioned OakDOT will lead a collection of conversations with residents and group organizations as outreach.

“We will be hitting the highway once more to speak to individuals, join with key stakeholders in West Oakland, and determine how this undertaking continues to fulfill their wants and what extra wants they might have that we are able to attempt to meet,” Pené mentioned. The principle focus of the outreach can be across the well-liked Defmerery Park, together with individuals who run and use the leisure centre, nook markets and faculties there, such because the KIPP Academy.

The 18th Avenue undertaking can be collectively led by two divisions inside OakDOT: the Full Streets Infrastructure Division and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Program inside the Protected Streets Division.

If the outreach is profitable, development on the undertaking is anticipated to start this summer season.