4. traffic, PARKING, & safety
current issues:
Would current conditions around Broadway/51st St./Pleasant Valley Road area and in the infrastructure enable the absorption of 600 - 1000+ new residents in the area - in addition to the recently added 400+ at Merrill Gardens (MG) and Baxter? This added to the jump in shopper traffic from the re-opening of Safeway at The Ridge? Traffic and safety planning for these three developments was not well coordinated; severe congestion, wrong way drivers, speeding, cut through traffic and overflow parking from MG are now serious issues. See neighbors’ traffic report here. The City has already rated the intersection at Broadway & 51st St. as Level of Service F, the most severely problematic. When RadUrban and Whole Foods open at 51st at Telegraph, this will bring 400+ more residents, plus shopper traffic along busy 51st St, a thoroughfare between Hwy 580 and Hwys 24 & 13.
For any development on the CCA site, the City must be actively engaged with the community as well as with traffic engineers. We neighbors who live on these streets effectively foresaw the problems we now live with, and no one listened. This time, let’s prevent problems before they happen with a well-thought out traffic re-design involving all stakeholders.
SAFETY:
Access to the development: Is it realistic to build such a huge development for approximately 600 - 1000 new residents with ingress and egress limited to narrow Clifton Street? Would emergency vehicles, plus cars, delivery trucks, scooters, bikes, wheelchairs and strollers be able to function with only one access road on a daily basis? What about during a major disaster? Would fire and rescue be able to reach multi-story structures at the far south of the site from this one access road?
CURRENT TRAFFIC AND SAFETY PROBLEMS:
Neighbors NW of Broadway and 51st St. identified serious existing traffic and safety issues and proposed solutions in a 10 page report, submitted to and discussed with City officials in October 2018. The City promised follow up but has never done so. (See the neighbors’ traffic report here.)
Pedestrian safety is already an issue for children, seniors at two residences (some with impaired mobility, vision, and/or hearing), and for teens rushing between Oakland Tech high school and off-campus classes near the CCA site. Stop lights are ill-timed and badly placed. Drivers frequently ignore stop signs or are confused by poor signage. Neighbors report an increase in traffic and pedestrian near-accidents as well as actual accidents.
One of two required traffic studies was conducted prior to the redevelopment of the Safeway/Ridge Shopping Center at Pleasant Valley & Gilbert. Meanwhile, Merrill Gardens and Baxter opened increasing traffic and congestion. As part of the planning process for any new development at the CCA site an in-depth area-wide traffic study must be conducted by a neutral party (not the developer) to assess conditions that have worsened so notably since before the new three developments.
Results of the upper Broadway “road diet” are not as anticipated: very few riders use the new bike lanes, while reduced vehicle lanes have increased vehicle congestion. Traffic and signage reconfiguration in the approach to Hwy 24 confuses motorists and endangers pedestrians.
The new exit from The Ridge onto Pleasant Valley at Gilbert was described by an Oakland Department of Transportation official as “an abomination.” Seniors and disabled are particularly endangered at this intersection.
UBA is asking the City to take a more active role addressing current serious traffic and safety issues. And the City must also ensure that these efforts thoroughly and effectively incorporate conditions anticipated by the size and scale of planned development on the CCA site.
PARKING
We support reduced parking ratios (proposed plan is a .67/unit ratio) if this reduction is accompanied by well-planned access and parking for shared cars, bikes, ride-share services, motor scooters, and other alternate forms of transport. The independent traffic study (cited above) would help determine a parking ratio appropriate to actual on-the-ground conditions. Free or reduced bus passes and a jitney to BART would support public transit use.
Transit oriented developments (TOD) with reduced parking, previously unheard of, are becoming more popular with several East Bay and SF examples. These developers are betting that there will be plenty of old and young tenants happy to leave their cars behind if they are near convenient and dependable public transit, and alternative transit modes are accessible. A well-planned TOD makes it much easier to live without a car, which is an increasingly desirable alternative for many, though not for all. Although just outside the optimal half mile to major transit at BART (a 12 minute walk) and adjacent to the 51A AC Transit line, proximity to The Ridge shopping center and one of the most appealing shopping districts in Oakland, the CCA development will have great appeal.
However, while reduced vehicle usage is imperative, studies show that as income level rises so does vehicle ownership. If luxury units predominate at this development, this may become an issue. This could be mitigated by residential permit parking which excludes development residents, preventing them from parking in the surrounding community. The developer should subsidize this program, including ensuring regulation enforcement.
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
Reduced parking works where public transit is robust and dependable. There must be a commitment to significantly improve and expand public transportation. Although the developer, CCA and the City bear no responsibility for this, it is an important piece of the transit puzzle. When public transit is excellent, the majority of people do not need a car.
AC Transit must expand routes and improve on-time service if ridership is to increase and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) are to be reduced. (See AC Transit’s 2018 report here.) There are encouraging moves to integrate the 27 different transit districts in the Bay Area - but this will be years in the making.
An alternative form of public transit would be smaller, more flexible and economical jitney and van-type public transit like Emery Go-BART. These vehicles should be electric. They could be up and running very quickly; this idea would make sense not just for this site but for our whole transit system.
BART, currently overwhelmed, is scheduled to improve capacity and frequency of service if federal funds are received to supplement funds from the passage of Measure RR. Currently, it is often impossible to board at Rockridge during morning commute hours.
Private for-profit ride share services are convenient and flexible, but more expensive than public transit. In addition they drain resources that otherwise would be spent supporting public transit. Bike rentals and electric scooters are convenient, but only for the able-bodied, and are also run by for-profit companies. Accommodation for these services must be built into any new development, but not to the detriment of space and access that supports and enhances public transit service.
As more and more of the public’s transit dollars go to these private, for profit ride-sharing and rental services, AC Transit languishes. We must advocate for investment in the future of public transportation for everyone. See Resources page for more information.