Background
8th Street in Chinatown and Old Oakland is a street of historical, cultural, and current significance. Chinese people first came to Oakland in the 1850s, living in at least four different areas until they settled at the corner of 8th and Webster Streets by the 1870s where a business center sprang up. This corner remains the center of the Chinatown Commercial District today.
Over the past 150 years, the Chinatown community went through the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Executive Order 9066, and the destruction of Madison Square among other racial segregation and displacement injustices. Today, 8th Street is adjacent the proposed Lake Merritt BART Transit-Oriented Development which will bring hundreds of housing units (including affordable housing units) and commercial space to Chinatown. 8th Street is also on Oakland’s High Injury Network, meaning it has some of the highest concentrations of traffic collisions in Oakland.
Project Scope
To provide improve safety connectivity in Chinatown, this project proposes the following pedestrian and transit improvements on 8th Street between Fallon Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way:
- Improving safety at pedestrian crossings by:
- Upgrading existing pedestrian scrambles
- Adding a new pedestrian scramble at the intersection of 8th Street and Harrison Street
- Adding a traffic signal at 8th Street and Alice Street
- Adding bulb outs to shorten crossing distances
- Daylighting intersections and driveways to improve sight lines
- Enhancing the pedestrian experience by removing sidewalk tripping hazards, installing wayfinding signage, upgrading pedestrian lighting to improve safety and visibility
- Removing one vehicle lane and using that space to expand pedestrian space, add diagonal parking, and/or add ADA passenger and commercial loading zones
- Adding new amenities on the sidewalks such as bike racks, trash cans, and street trees (where feasible)
This project is currently in the planning phase.
Past Engagement and Outcomes
- 2014 Lake Merritt Station Area Plan. This plan proposed bulb outs, upgraded crosswalks, and sidewalk amenities including pedestrian lighting and street trees. The plan also recommended lane reduction from four lanes to three lanes east of Harrison Street and the addition of buffered bike lanes. Long term recommendations included a street conversion from one-way to two-way or keeping the street one-way and widening the sidewalk.
- 2017 Pedestrian Plan. This plan proposed bulb outs at each corner of the 8th Street and Harrison Street intersection, daylighting of intersections, leading pedestrian intervals (LPI), longer crossing times for pedestrians, and implementing a road diet.
- 2019 Oakland Bike Plan. This plan proposed buffered bike lanes between Harrison Street and Madison Street and protected bike lanes between Madison and Fallon Street. See interactive Existing and Proposed Bikeways map.
- 2019 Downtown Oakland Specific Plan (DOSP). This plan proposed a two-way street conversion with an enhanced pedestrian environment and loading areas.
- Chinatown Complete Streets Plan. While not complete yet, engagement activities to-date included online survey, a public site walk, and meetings with local organizations. Residents and visitors in Chinatown would like to see widened sidewalks, pedestrian only spaces, sidewalk lighting, increased crosswalk safety, and better bike infrastructure.
Page last updated September 11, 2024
