Bike Lanes and Routes
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General Information
Since 1999, the City of Oakland, Public Works Agency has installed 87 miles of bicycle lanes and routes, including facilities on Grand Avenue, MacArthur Boulevard, Mandela Parkway, 73rd Avenue, Bancroft Avenue, and the Embarcadero. (View a map of the existing bikeway network, October 2007.) The City is working to improve bicycle access around Lake Merritt and along the waterfront. The Port of Oakland and the East Bay Regional Parks District also install bicycle lanes and paths within their jurisdictions.
In December 2007, the Oakland City Council approved the first revision to Oakland's Bicycle Master Plan since 1999. This plan, part of Oakland's General Plan, encourages safety and accessibility for bicyclists throughout the City.
News/Current Projects
Market Street Bikeway, Phases I-III
With grant funds from the
Alameda County Transportation Improvement Authority (ACTIA) and Transportation Development Act Article 3, the City has completed Phase II of the Market Street Bikeway, striping bike lanes from 3rd to 18th Streets in West Oakland. The funds will also allow the City to complete Phase III, extending the bike lanes north from 18th Street to West MacArthur Blvd. For project photos and more details, see the
City's ACTIA projects page.
The above segments will link with the Phase I project that installed bike lanes between West MacArthur and 57th Street. (The Phase I project was funded by a grant from the
Transportation Fund for Clean Air.)
The completed bikeway (mostly Class II bike lanes) will be three miles in length, stretching from 3rd Street to 57th Street, and will feature video detection for cyclists at the intersection of San Pablo and Market Street, as well as enhanced crosswalk striping to improve pedestrian safety. The project will be completed by Summer 2008.
Read press release, June 29, 2007 (pdf).
Bancroft Avenue Bikeway
The City has received TDA Article 3 bike/ped funds to complete the Bancroft Avenue Bikeway by installing a bikeway--mostly Class II bike lanes with some connecting sharrow segments--between 67th and 82nd Avenues. Grant funds will allow the street to be "slurry sealed" to provide a smooth cycling surface. Bancroft Avenue is currently striped with bike lanes from 49th to 66th Avenues and 82nd Avenue to the San Leandro border. The resulting continuous bikeway will be 4.6 miles in length. Approved by the City Council in July 2006, the project is expected to be completed by Summer 2008.
West Street Bikeway, 52nd Street to West MacArthur Blvd.
Approved by the City Council in September 2007, bike lanes on West Street between West MacArthur Blvd. and 52nd Street, will be installed. The project, which extends the existing bike lanes on West Street between West Grand Ave. and West MacArthur Blvd., is recommended in the City’s Bicycle Master Plan (BMP) and responds to neighborhood requests to calm traffic along West Street. To make room for bike lanes, one lane of traffic, but no parking spaces, will be removed. The street will also be resurfaced; all work is expected to be completed by Winter 2007 (weather permitting).For more information about this project, please see:
West Grand Avenue Bike Lane Restored
To respond to the recent MacArthur Maze deck collapse, the City of Oakland and Caltrans created a temporary, emergency detour for motor vehicle traffic accessing eastbound Highway 24 and Interstate 580. This detour routed vehicles along West Grand Avenue to the Northgate Avenue Hwy 24/I-580 on-ramp and required the temporary removal of 0.25 miles of bike lane in the eastbound direction between Market Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way to make room for an additional motor vehicle travel lane. All work associated with the detour was funded through Caltrans.
The maze was repaired a month earlier than expected. For information on the construction project, please see the Caltrans District 4 website at http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/mazedamage/.
27th Street Bikeway
The City of Oakland is proposing to install a bikeway on 27th Street and Bay Place, as recommended in the City’s Bicycle Master Plan. Portions of the project will be installed in conjunction with the resurfacing of 27th Street (Broadway-San Pablo Avenue.) A grant application has been submitted to fund construction of the adjoining segments. For more information about this project, please see:
MacArthur Blvd. Bike Lanes
With funding from a grant from the state Bicycle Transportation Account, the City is currently designing a new bikeway on MacArthur Blvd. from Park Blvd. to Lincoln Ave. The Public Works Agency will be getting input on project design at upcoming community meetings in the project area. The project is expected to be constructed prior to Summer 2008.
MacArthur BART Bike Access Study
Funded through the new, regional Safe Routes to Transit funding program, the City will be studying how to improve bicycle access to the MacArthur BART Station while maintaining optimal bus service at this important transit hub. The completed study will prepare the City to implement the recommended improvements. For more information, read this flyer (.pdf)
12th Street Dam, Interim Bikeway
Bright orange barriers have transformed the road across the 12th Street Dam across the south end of Lake Merritt into a visible, safe route for Oakland 's cyclists. The new facility, referenced in the Lake Merritt Master Plan, extends from Lakeshore Avenue to the East to 14th Street to the West. and sets the stage for the larger changes in store as part of Measure DD. The project was funded by Transportation Development Act Article 3 Bike/Ped funds and sets the stage for the larger changes in store as part of Measure DD. Within the next three years most of the streets on the circumference of Lake Merritt will be striped with bike lanes, with a mixed use multi-use path within the park.
3rd Street Extension, Bay Trail Segment Complete
On Thursday, April 21, 2006, the City of Oakland celebrated the opening of the 3rd Street Extension (click to enlarge photos). The project constructed a new road that extends from Union to 7th Street, and provides a direct connection to the West Oakland BART Station for cyclists by linking a recently constructed bikeway along the 2nd/3rd Street corridor to Jack London Square, and on Mandela Parkway to Emeryville. The project completes a segment of the West Oakland Bay Trail (see below), and took three years to construct but was many years in the making. When complete, the West Oakland Bay Trail will connect Emeryville to Jack London Square with bike lanes and enhanced pedestrian facilities.
The San Francisco Bay Trail project and the West Oakland Commerce Association helped the City build consensus for the project, and with Councilmember Nadel and the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, advocated tirelessly for making the connection from 3rd onto Mandela.
Most of the project was financed with $1 million in federal funds. The City of Oakland provided local Measure B funds as a match. Amtrak provided $250,000 in matching grant funds and oversaw construction of the last link, a 500-foot section on the Union end of the project.
Read press release (.pdf format).
West Oakland Bay Trail Bike/Ped Facility
The West Oakland Bay Trail bicycle and pedestrian facility now extends from Broadway in Jack London Square to the Emeryville city limits with new sidewalk, bike lanes and bike route facilities, trees, historic markers, and Bay Trail signage. This project was made possible due to funding from to the San Francisco Bay Trail Project, Transportation Development Act Article 3, and Measure B sales tax revenues.
Telegraph Avenue
The City is conducting an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to study the impacts of constructing bicycle lanes on Telegraph Avenue from Aileen to 20th Street. This project has experienced delays in order to take into consideration potential impacts of AC Transit's Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and Kaiser Hospital's redevelopment plans. When the necessary data has been collected and analyzed, the community will have ample opportunity for input before finalizing the report. Click to view the Existing Conditions Report (pdf).
What's the difference between a bicycle lane, route, and path?
Bicycle lane:
A bicycle lane is an on-street facility ("Class II facility") established on roadways with high bicycle demand. Bicycle lanes must be a minimum of 1.5 meters (approximately five feet) in width, and are delineated by a six inch stripe on the left-hand side of the lane, an optional four inch stripe on the right side of the lane, and in-pavement markings such as the symbol of a cyclist with a helmet. Bicycle lanes are also denoted by bike lane "BEGIN" and "END" signs.
Bicycle route:
A bicycle route ("Class III facility") is a denoted by route signs and is installed on streets that are recommended for cycling but do not require bike lane striping due to the low-volume of vehicle traffic flow. The numbered signs (pictured) are guides that can be used in conjunction with bicycle route or lane signs. Bike routes can be enhanced by sharrow markings (see below) in situations where the "door zone" is hazardous to bicyclists.
Bicycle path:
A bicycle path ("Class I facility") is completely segregated from vehicle traffic and tends to be a recreational facility. Class I paths may be found in Oakland's parks and along portions of the Oakland Bay Trail.
What's a "sharrow"?
In September 2005, Caltrans approved a new pavement marking to indicate shared use lanes. The new "sharrow" (pictured right) has been used on Foothill Blvd. from 36th to 41st Avenues. The City will consider the use of sharrows where bike lanes are not feasible and where a Class III route is not adequate. For more information about sharrows, read a Sharrow FAQ flyer (.pdf).
Oakland's Route Numbering System
The purpose of a numbering system is to create a network that can be followed locally and regionally, connecting bicycle lanes and routes across the entire length of the City and into neighboring jurisdictions. Oakland's bicycle route numbers are based on those designated in the Alameda Countywide Bicycle Plan.
In Oakland, routes that parallel north-south traffic corridors are designated by numbers that end in "5." Thus, routes 45 and 55 make use of several streets to form cross-county hill corridors, and Route 5 is the Bay Trail and continues into and around San Francisco. Routes that end in "0" extend from the bay to the hills. For example, Route 10 stretches from Alameda, along Fruitvale, and up to Skyline Blvd.
To the extent feasible, Oakland routes that parallel north-south corridors end in odd numbers, and those that go from the bay to the hills end in even numbers. Because Oakland is "V" shaped-north on state highways is actually west in Oakland, and "East" Oakland is actually south-City staff determines route numbers by their orientation to Lake Merritt. Spur routes leading to specific destinations are designated by three-digit numbers. Examples of local routes include Route 29, which spans Broadway from Jack London Square to Lake Temescal, and Route 229, which connects Route 29 to Route 45 via Broadway Terrace.
As of July 2005, the City does not have an available map of the routes, but hopes to have one under development soon. A map will help cyclists see how all the routes connect and guide us in filling in the network. Click for more information (.pdf format) about Oakland's Bike Route Signage System.
Proposed Bikeway Network
Map of the draft proposed bikeway network (2007 Bicycle Master Plan)
Map of the recommended bikeway network from Oakland's 1999 Bicycle Master Plan
Map of the recommended downtown bikeway network from Oakland's 1999 Bicycle Master Plan
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SF Bay Trail in Oakland
As of September 2007, approximately 19 miles of the 33 miles of the planned Bay Trail in Oakland have been completed. (Completed Bay Trail facilities are reflected on the Existing Bikeway Network map above, as well as on the Walk Oakland! Map and Guide and maps produced by the SF Bay Trail Project.) Region-wide, approximately 290 miles of a 500-mile system have been completed. (Bay Trail staff estimate that it will take 15 years to complete the system.)
City staff regularly seeks and receives grant funding to complete the Bay Trail in Oakland. For more information about the Bay Trail system, go to http://baytrail.abag.ca.gov/.
