This page contains information about a concept design and initial public outreach for safety improvements along Grand Avenue between Broadway and Mandana conducted by OakDOT from 2022 to 2024. This process led to a series of initial corridor concepts for the street (Labeled 15% and 35% in the green links below). This initial effort was not resourced to conduct detailed traffic studies or perform detailed design of the corridor. In November of 2024, OakDOT entered in a contract with Wood Rodgers, Inc, an engineering design firm, to perform detailed traffic and transit analysis of various roadway redesign concepts, and bring this project up to construction-ready designs and bid documents. Please click this link to visit the website for that current effort: (LINK).
ARCHIVE PAGE FROM CONCEPT DESIGN EFFORT ENDING IN MAY 2024:
35% concept designs from Summer 2024 are available below. OakDOT will continue to collect input and make revisions in Summer 2024, and has issued a Request for Proposals for a consultant to expand community outreach, perform traffic studies, and create a Final Design.
Please see the link below to view the completed 35% concept plans for the Grand Avenue Project from Broadway to Mandana. These plans include protected bike lanes in either direction on Grand for the full project corridor, along with maintaining the existing 4 vehicle lanes and center turning lane on Grand. The City's path forward for this design is to solicit and hire an engineering consultant to perform Final Design and construction management. This process is expected to conclude in Summer 2024 at which point the City will restart the design and outreach process.
Due to the in-depth community conversation surrounding the design elements of the project, the potential to reduce the number of traffic lanes on Grand Avenue, and the multifaceted modal impacts of this project, the first phase of this Final Design work will be to conduct a full Road Diet Feasibility Study for Grand Avenue that fully investigates the impact of removing one lane of traffic in each direction on Grand Avenue (the 15% concept plan, linked below, removed one lane of westbound traffic from Euclid to Bay). Once this feasibility study is complete, the City will work with community stakeholders, residents, businesses, and AC Transit to select a preferred alternative to move forward to 100% design and construction.
Project Background and Information
Grand Avenue from Broadway to MacArthur is set to be repaved by the City of Oakland's Measure KK-funded paving program.
Grand Avenue in this neighborhood also acts as a bypass or cut-through route for drivers avoiding traffic on I580, and is on the City's Bicycle and Pedestrian High Injury Network - the 6% of City streets that account for over 60% of severe and fatal collisions. How can OakDOT leverage this paving project to improve safety and access for people walking, biking, and taking the bus?
This planning and design process will be informed by the outcomes of the Grand Avenue Mobility Plan, which for the last two years has worked with the community in West Oakland, Downtown, and Adams Point to develop a long-term vision for the corridor. While this repaving project will likely not be able to fully implement the long-term vision of the Grand Avenue Mobility Plan, this coordination opportunity provides an important and timely opportunity to implement roadway safety improvements on Grand Avenue. These improvements could include:
- Pedestrian Crossing Improvements (pedestrian refuge islands, new crosswalks, etc)
- Transit Improvements to improve reliability of the bus, (building off the recommendations of AC Transit's Grand Ave Rapid Corridors Project)
- Protected Bike Lane Treatments to separate people biking from motor vehicle traffic
- Traffic Calming to slow vehicle traffic
- Curb Management to address loading and operational needs
- Roadway Re-striping to reconfigure travel and/or turning lanes
If you have any questions or comments, please contact Charlie Ream at CReam@oaklandca.gov.
Also, check out the 27th and Lakeside Streets Project for more bike and pedestrian improvements in the area!