CONSTRUCTION UPDATE (June 2024)
Construction of the Project has begun! We will be working to inform community stakeholders about upcoming construction milestones as the project proceeds. Please check back on this website for updated construction information as available. The Project is expected to be complete by the end of 2025.
CONSTRUCTION TIMELINE (Subject to change):
West:
- South Side between Brush St and MLK Jr Way: Complete
- South Side between Jefferson St and Clay St: 6/3 to 8/2
- South Side between Clay St to Broadway: 8/3 to 9/3
East:
- North Side between Oak St to Madison St: 5/13 to 8/2
- North Side Madison St to Jackson St: 8/2 to 8/30
PROJECT GOALS AND DESIGN ELEMENTS
Today, 14th Street is designed to speed motor vehicle traffic through Downtown as quickly as possible. In the 5 years since the City applied for this safety grant in 2016, 2 people walking in crosswalks were killed by drivers on 14th Street - both seniors. Tragically, on June 16, 2022 - 5 days before this project was set to be approved at City Council, a driver killed someone biking on 14th Street at Jefferson Street in a hit-and-run collision. In the 5 years from 2016-2021, vehicle collisions injured 189 people, 38 of them severely. This stretch of 14th Street represents one of the densest concentrations of traffic injuries and deaths in the City of Oakland. These tragic and preventable collisions, injuries, and deaths are a daily barrier to mobility for all, and a barrier to 14th Street operating as the center of a calm and walkable Downtown. The Goals of this project are to:
- Invest in safety improvements for all people who use 14th Street
- Improve the connection to Downtown for people walking, biking, and taking transit
- Install Pedestrian-scale sidewalk lighting on 14th Street to improve nighttime visibility
- Add parking to the 14th Street area by installing angled parking on 13th Street which will add up to 53 parking spaces on 13th
- Improve transit reliability for the 14 line, one of the busiest bus lines in Oakland
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
During public outreach meetings in 2019, the City heard concern from the community regarding parking, roadway safety, support for small businesses, and cultural/aesthetic elements related to the Black Arts Movement Business District (BAMBD). In Summer 2021, the City of Oakland Department of Transportation (OakDOT) came back to the 14th Street community to provide a status update on our progress in meeting the community’s requests.
CHANGES WE'VE MADE BASED ON FEEDBACK (UPDATED 2/22):
- Create an Expanded Sidewalk plan for the core commercial block from Webster to Harrison. This will provide a raised bike lane and more pedestrian space on this block where sidewalk crowding is an issue.
- Remove a lane and install angled parking on 13th Street to ADD up to 53 parking spaces and calm traffic on 13th Street.
- Adding more sidewalk lighting for visibility after dark
- Devoting funding to the CIty's Public Art Program which will install community-led Public Art on the corridor
- Providing up to 35 off-street monthly parking spaces at a 50% discount to local business owners and employees
- Providing Parking validation to area merchants at a 50% discount
- Adding more trees and landscaping
- Adding canopies, seating, and amenities on transit boarding islands
Please contact Charlie Ream at CReam@oaklandca.gov with any questions about the project scope or the past Planning and Outreach process. For Construction-related questions, please contact the Resident Engineer at apoelvoorde@oaklandca.gov.
