August 7, 2024: OakDOT Selects Complete Streets Design for Upper Telegraph Avenue Project
Between August 2023 and February 2024, OakDOT conducted extensive community outreach on two conceptual designs:
- Option 1: 4-to-3 Lane Road Diet + Separated Bike Lanes
- Option 2: Bus-Only Lane Design + Separated Bike Lanes
Outreach included a project Open House, an online survey with 1,154 respondents (52% living along the project corridor), visits to over 60 businesses, discussions with over 150 transit riders, and almost 3,000 project postcards mailed to businesses and residents on and near the project corridor. Staff also analyzed policy guidance and transit and traffic operations, among other factors.
After in-depth analysis of all data, OakDOT has chosen to move forward with the 4-to-3 Lane Road Diet on Upper Telegraph Avenue.
This design will enable the installation of the greatest number of pedestrian safety improvements, more comfortable facilities for bicyclists, more features for people with disabilities, more commercial loading and parking, and more amenities for transit riders, all while having minimal impacts to current transit operations (3 second delay southbound, 9 seconds faster northbound). Among other elements, the project design will feature a slower, calmer roadway for all users, fully separated bike lanes, pedestrian safety islands, and transit improvements, including approximately 10 bus boarding islands with shelters and seating.
To read more about the design decision, please see the Memo from OakDOT Director Josh Rowan, as well as our Community Engagement and Outreach Summary. You can also review the early conceptual designs for the entire project corridor and send us feedback at telegraph@oaklandca.gov.
In August and September 2024, OakDOT staff will be visiting businesses and property owners on Telegraph Avenue to discuss specific needs that may need to be accommodated with the selected design for the corridor.
Project Background
Telegraph Avenue from 52nd Street to Woolsey Street will be repaved as part of Oakland’s Five-year Paving Plan. This paving work presents an opportunity for the City to integrate design elements that will enhance connectivity and safety for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit riders.
Between 52nd Street and 55th Street, Telegraph is part of the city’s Pedestrian High Injury Network - the 6% of city streets that are responsible for 60% of reported collisions. On the full project corridor, there were 52 crashes between 2017 and 2021. Notably, during the available years of recorded data, one fatality occurred on this portion of Telegraph.
The City's 2019 Bike Plan, Let's Bike Oakland!, recommends protected bike lanes along Telegraph. AC Transit's 2016 Major Corridors Study recommends bus-only lanes on Telegraph.
This project will include design elements that slow traffic, provide physical separation between bicycles and vehicles, increase pedestrian visibility, and maintain efficient transit operations.
Planned Improvements Include:
- Separated bike lanes
- Upgraded and new curb ramps
- High-visibility crosswalks
- Bus boarding islands
Potential Improvements Include:
- Bus-only lanes
- Flashing lights at crosswalks
- Pedestrian refuge islands
- And more
Outreach
** August/Sept 2024 **
Staff will be visiting establishments on the project corridor to discuss the design decision and share early conceptual designs for the entire project corridor.
Staff began outreach in late summer/early fall of 2023.
Read a summary of our community engagement and outreach leading up to our overall design decision for the project.
Public meetings and engagement opportunities have included:
- 10/10/23: Shattuck NCPC Meeting
- Dec 2023 - January 2024: Project survey
- 1/7/24: Temescal Farmer's Market, 9am-1pm
- 1/17/24: Project Open House, 5pm-7pm, Temescal Library
- 2/7/24: Mayor's Commission on Aging, 10am-12pm, City Hall, Hearing Room 1
- 2/26/24: Mayor's Commission on Persons with Disabilities, 5:30pm-7:30pm, City Hall, Hearing Room 1
- 8/27/24: Telegraph Temescal Business Improvement District Board meeting
- 9/19/24: Telegraph Temescal Business Improvement District Design Committee meeting
History
In December 2014, Oakland City Council adopted the Telegraph Avenue Complete Streets Plan which proposed complete street improvements for Telegraph Avenue. In April 2016, the Oakland Department of Transportation (OakDOT) built a pilot project with temporary protected bike lanes from 17th Street to 29th Street as part of a repaving project.
OakDOT leveraged paving projects in 2016 and 2021 to provide temporary improvements between 20th Street and 52nd Street through three project phases -- KONO, Pill Hill/Mosswood, and Temescal. This Telegraph Avenue Paving Project will build on these past projects by extending complete streets improvements all the way to the Berkeley border.
For a more detailed history, including evaluations of the projects, visit the Telegraph Avenue Corridor Improvements page.
