Embarcadero West Rail Safety and Access Improvements

The Spring/Summer 2024 Community Engagement Report is now available! Click here to download the report. 

Check out the project videos! To help people understand the many components of Embarcadero West Rail Safety and Access Improvements, the project team created videos that show the proposed improvements from different points of view.

• Click here for the pedestrian video
• Click here for the bicyclist video
• Clike here for the driver video

Please sign up for our email list here. Email the project team if you have any comments or questions at mpd@oaklandca.gov.

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Background

Oakland’s Embarcadero West is a vital transportation corridor in the Bay Area, connecting the Port of Oakland—a global gateway for the Northern California Megaregion—to the rest of the nation. Embarcadero West is a one-mile city street accommodating freight trains, passenger trains, motor vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians with no physical separation between these transportation modes. Approximately 65 trains a day use this corridor operated by Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) and Amtrak/Capitol Corridor. This rail corridor is one of the largest bottlenecks for both UPRR and Amtrak, which see frequent delays from vehicles inadvertently getting stuck on the tracks. Decades of community engagement and planning have resulted in multiple state grant awards that will fund this project through the next phases of engagement, final design, and construction.

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Project Scope

Embarcadero West Rail Safety and Access Improvements will improve safety, access to the waterfront, and train reliability for people and goods movement.   It will also transform Embarcadero West into a more welcoming and connected corridor that's reflective of the surrounding community. This project also includes installing railroad safety infrastructure that could qualify the area to be designated as a quiet zone. Check out the Community Design Workshop Posters and the videos (linked above)!

The project is currently in early design with the goal of incorporating these proposed improvements:

• Relocate and upgrade eight at-grade crossings gates on Embarcadero West between Market Street and Oak Street including new railroad and pedestrian crossing arms and equipment immediately adjacent to the railroad tracks. Other improvements to the at-grade crossings include directional signage, pavement delineation, high-visibility crosswalks, bulb-outs, and intersection safety lighting to increase safety and protect freight and passenger rail operations.
• Install fencing between intersections to physically separate trains and all other road users.
• Pursue a quiet zone on Embarcadero West to eliminate routine use of train horns. To establish a quiet zone, railroad safety infrastructure must be installed. In a quiet zone, train horns may still be used in emergency situations or to comply with other Federal regulations or railroad operating rules.
• Install new traffic signals with preemption (as required by UPRR) at the Broadway and Oak Street intersections with 2nd Street.
• Convert the westbound lane (lane closer to downtown) of Embarcadero West to a shared street. Embarcadero West between Jefferson Street and Webster Street would become a shared street, similar to Water Street, and designed to slow vehicle speeds. Traffic diverters (such as concrete islands and/or bollards) would be constructed at each intersection to ensure right-turns only for drivers on Embarcadero West driving west. Creating right-turn only intersections on westbound Embarcadero West will minimize incidents of vehicles on tracks when trains are approaching and of drivers inadvertently traveling off pavement onto the railroad tracks. The shared street design will include space for loading as appropriate.
• Convert the eastbound lane (lane closer to the waterfront) to a bicycle and pedestrian space on Embarcadero West between Clay Street and Webster Street. This side of the street will accommodate emergency vehicles and authorized service vehicles but would be closed for general purpose vehicles. Closing this road to vehicles will also eliminate left turns across the railroad tracks, which reduces the risk of vehicle-train and vehicle-pedestrian collisions. It will also make it easier for drivers to travel straight across Embarcadero West to get to and from the waterfront.
• Construct protected bike lanes to connect major transit stops and the city’s network of bike lanes. See proposed bike lanes below and map on page 17 of the workshop posters. 
  1. Two-way protected bike lanes on 2nd Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Clay Street and on Clay Street between 2nd Street and Embarcadero West. 
  2. Two-way separated bike lanes on existing eastbound Embarcadero West between Clay Street and Webster Street. 
  3. Two-way protected bike lanes on Embarcadero West between Clay Street and Oak Street and on Oak Street between Embarcadero West and 3rd Street.
• Replace parking on Clay Street between Embarcadero West and 2nd Street and Embarcadero West between MLK Jr Way and Clay Street with wider sidewalks and protected bike lanes.
• Redevelopment of the overweight vehicle corridor between Middle Harbor Road to Market Street to accommodate permitted trucks between 80,000 – 95,000 pounds. This will restore direct overweight truck access to the overweight truck corridor and eliminate the current overweight truck corridor reroute on 7th Street through West Oakland. 
• Study the feasibility of future grade separated crossings over Embarcadero West on streets between Adeline Street and Clay Street.

Embarcadero West Rail Safety and Access Improvements will also upgrade blocks perpendicular to the rail corridor between Embarcadero West and 2nd Street on Martin Luther King, Jr. Way to Oak Street and on Market Street between Embarcadero West and 3rd Street. These upgrades will include improvements to street lighting, multi-modal safety, intersection safety, and accessibility.
 

This project is funded by:

California Assembly Bill 128, Regional Measure 3 (RM3), and the Trade Corridor Enhancement Program (TCEP)

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Past Engagement and Outcomes

• 2019 Oakland Bike Plan. This Plan proposes a Class 1 bike path on Embarcadero West between Brush Street and Clay Street. See interactive Existing and Proposed Bikeways map.
• 2019 Downtown Oakland Specific Plan (DOSP). This plan proposed a rail safety project on Embarcadero West between Market Street and Oak Street that would install crossing treatments and fencing at each intersection and transform Embarcadero West into a “quiet zone” and an enhanced pedestrian corridor (which would provide a safer connection between Howard Terminal to Jack London).
• Draft Howard Terminal Transportation Plan. Building upon prior planning efforts, the public was engaged in the conceptual development of the projects in 2019 and 2020 through “on the ground” surveys that reached hundreds of Oaklanders in high priority neighborhoods adjacent to the waterfront, a series of community workshops, and stakeholder meetings as summarized here:
  • In-person engagement included surveys, community meetings, and stakeholder meetings focused on West Oakland, Jack London Square and Chinatown. Over 500 surveys were conducted in English, Spanish, and Chinese, and happened on-board buses, at transit hubs, and on high-traffic corridors for a total of over 200 hours on the ground. In addition to in-person surveys, online surveys were also advertised to Oaklanders with a specific focus on the 94607 zip code (including West Oakland, Old Oakland, Chinatown, and Jack London Square). The people who took the surveys, according to the demographic questions, were representative of the City’s demographics.
  • Four community meetings with about 30 attendees each were held in the neighborhoods of focus, including West Oakland, Jack London Square, Chinatown, and a maritime stakeholder-specific workshop.
  • Ten key stakeholder meetings were held with leaders of each community where projects are proposed to be implemented, and with transportation advocates.
  • Staff made multiple presentations to the Bicyclist and Pedestrian Advisory Commission.
• Final and Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Waterfront Ballpark District. As a result of the comments received on the Draft EIR, the Embarcadero West Rail Safety and Access Improvements become a larger set of recommended improvements in the Final EIR.
• 2024 engagement for 35% designs of Embarcadero West:
  • Sunday, June 23: Pop-Up at Jack London Square Farmer's Market
  • Tuesday, June 25: Jack London Neighborhood Council Meeting
  • Sunday, June 30: Pop-Up at Jack London Square Farmer's Market
  • Friday, July 12: Pop-Up at Port Harbor Tour: Embarcadero West Rail Safety and Access Improvements
  • Wednesday, July 17: Community Design Workshop: Embarcadero West Rail Safety and Access
  • Saturday, July 20: Pop-Up at StaceyFest
  • Saturday, July 20: Pop-Up at Pedal Brew Fest
  • Saturday, August 3: Pop-Up at Jack London Brewing District Block Party: Embarcadero West Rail Safety and Access Improvements
  • Tuesday, August 6: Pop-Up at Jack London National Night Out
  • Tuesday, August 6: Pop-Up at West Oakland National Night Out

Page Last Updated: November 6, 2024