SOUTHSIDE COMPLETE STREETS PROJECT
Project Overview
The Southside Complete Streets project will improve conditions for people walking, biking, riding transit, driving, and delivering goods and services in Berkeley’s Southside neighborhood.
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Berkeley’s Southside neighborhood has experienced continuing growth in both commercial activity and residential occupancy, with increased walking, biking, transit use, ride-hailing, and freight and small package delivery. The Southside Complete Streets project will meet these challenges by taking the visions laid out in City plans and other documents and coupling them with a community and data-driven approach. The project will implement improvements for safer walking and biking; more efficient and reliable transit service; and more useful freight and passenger loading zones. The project is funded by a Federal Aid grant from the Alameda County Transportation Commission and the California Department of Transportation. Matching funds for the Federal Aid grant are provided by University of California Berkeley Long Range Development Plan settlement funding.
Stay Connected!
For questions about the project or further information, please contact the project manager, Eric Anderson, Senior Planner, eanderson@cityofberkeley.info
For questions about the project or further information, please contact the project manager, Eric Anderson, Senior Planner, eanderson@cityofberkeley.info
Upcoming Events
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Past Events
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Project Timeline
Conceptual
Design & Public Engagement
|
September to November
2020 |
Data collection &
analysis; begin public engagement |
December 2020 to July
2021 |
Develop and present
design alternatives; ongoing public engagement |
August to November
2021 |
Finalize alternatives
and complete conceptual design; conclude public engagement |
Environmental
& Detailed Engineering Design |
December 2021 to
January 2022 |
Environmental
analysis and CEQA and NEPA documents |
January to August
2022 |
Develop detailed
engineering design; technical stakeholder engagement; finalize construction
plans |
September 2022 |
Advertise for
construction bids |
Project
Documents
- There are no Project Documents to share at this time
Project
Background
South
of the University of California, Berkeley campus, the Southside neighborhood is
a thriving residential and commercial area central to Berkeley’s historic
cultural legacy. Southside streets provide access to both the UC Berkeley
campus and student housing, as well as numerous local businesses, community and
cultural destinations, healthcare, and multi-family and single-family
residences. The Southside streets in this project include some of the busiest
commercial and residential streets in Berkeley.
Dana Street serves as an important north-south commercial and
residential street serving AC Transit buses, with heavy pedestrian and bicycle
use via existing Class II Bike Lanes.
Bancroft Way is a crucial commercial street interface between the
Southside neighborhood and the UC Berkeley campus, and serves as a major
east-west connection carrying numerous AC Transit, Bear Transit, and Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory shuttle buses, long distance commuter buses such
as FLIXbus, extremely high pedestrian and bicycle activity, and heavy vehicle
traffic (including freight vehicles). An existing two-block section of bus-only
lane and two-way parking-protected Cycle Track demonstrates what may be
possible elsewhere along the Bancroft Way corridor.
Fulton Street is a busy north-south connection which transitions
from commercial to residential and serves vehicle, bicycle, and pedestrian
uses. The existing southbound-only Fulton Street Cycle Track ends at the
Channing Way Bicycle Boulevard.
Telegraph Avenue is a bustling and
vibrant north-south commercial street and historic cultural center in Berkeley,
which connects directly to UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza and was the location of
Berkeley’s first accessible curb ramps in the 1970’s, 20 years before Federal
Americans with Disabilities Act legislation. The street carries some of the
highest pedestrian volumes in the East Bay, as well as serving AC Transit
buses, freight vehicles and commercial loading, and increasing numbers of ride-hailing
trips. On-street parking, commercial and passenger loading, and disabled
parking are well used and at a premium throughout the project area,
particularly on and adjacent to the busy commercial streets of Bancroft Way and
Telegraph Avenue.
Numerous studies, documents, and plans
have recommended changes to Southside streets. Among other recommendations, the
Southside
Area Plan recommended conversion of Bancroft Way, Durant
Avenue, and Dana Street from one-way to two-way streets to improve transit
reliability and pedestrian and bicycle safety; calm traffic; and improve
vehicle circulation. The Berkeley
Bicycle Plan recommends continuous Cycle Tracks on Bancroft Way,
Dana Street, and Fulton Street to close gaps in the proposed citywide Low
Stress Bikeway Vision Network. To address chronic transit delays through the
Southside, the AC
Transit Major Corridors study recommends a continuous Bus Rapid Transit facility on
Telegraph Avenue and Bancroft Way, connecting to Oakland to the south and to
Shattuck Avenue/University Avenue to the north. The
City of Berkeley’s General Plan Transportation Element
Policy T-4 Transit-First Policy gives priority to alternative transportation
and transit over single-occupant vehicles on Transit Routes. Policy T-22 seeks
to reduce wait times and transfer times for pedestrians taking transit by
implementing improvements such as transit-only lanes and traffic signal
improvements. Additionally, Policy T-55 designates Bancroft Way, Durant Avenue,
and Telegraph Avenue as the “highest priority routes” for transit improvements
in the Southside area. The Telegraph
Avenue Public Realm Plan recommends a phased approach to improving and
increasing pedestrian space along Telegraph Avenue’s relatively narrow existing
sidewalks, culminating in a “shared street” configuration; the plan notes that
it will need to be updated to include the future possibility of dedicated bus
lanes.
On
September 27, 2016, the Berkeley City Council approved the Southside
Project Phase I – Bancroft West, which constructed a parking-protected two-way cycle
track and bus-only lane on Bancroft Way between Dana Street and Fulton
Street. AC Transit is currently designing
and will be constructing the Dana Compete Street Pilot Project, which
complements the City’s Southside Complete Streets Project. The Dana Compete Street Pilot Project will
include a two-way cycle track on Dana Street from Dwight Way to Bancroft Way
and a bus boarding island on Dana Street at Haste Street. Construction is
expected to occur in 2021. Personal security has been a major concern of UC
Berkeley students in the Southside neighborhood. The Berkeley Police
Department’s Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design has worked closely
with the UC Berkeley Police Department and the Telegraph Business Improvement
District in order to improve the physical street environment and support
increased personal security.
Funding
Project funded by Federal Aid grant funding from the Alameda
County Transportation Commission and the California Department of
Transportation:
$1,000,000 for Public Engagement,
Conceptual Design, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance, and Final Construction Plans
$7,335,000 for Construction
Matching funds for the Federal Aid grant are provided
by University of California Berkeley Long Range Development Plan settlement
funding.