Community

Developer Plans to Relieve Traffic Congestion at Oak Knoll Project and Areas Near the Oakland Zoo

Published

7 years ago

July 28, 2017

At the June 21 public planning hearing of the proposed Oak Knoll re-development project, residents offered recommendations to the developer SunCAL. The 167-acre site, which formerly housed the Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, was acquired by SunCAL in 1996 and recast as a positive part of Oakland’s future. But residents have long complained about traffic during peak commute times and around the Oakland Zoo, East of Highway 580 and 98th Avenue.

After hearing many residents worry that adding more residents to the area could make traffic worse, the city required SunCal to contract with the city’s independent transportation consultant for the project, Fehr & Peers, to conduct the traffic analysis for the Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

Working with the city, Fehr & Peers conducted detailed traffic analyses in and around the proposed development. Engineers evaluated 44 intersections and identified eight that would be significantly impacted by the project—along with improvement strategies that would mitigate current and future traffic issues.

According to Francisco Martin, an associate with Fehr & Peers, “Installing and coordinating new traffic signals at these intersections would improve conditions—as would altering the traffic lanes.”

The city and Fehr & Peers recommended expanded bus schedules and greater connectivity with BART to help ease the congestion. But some residents remain concerned and have questioned why the analysis did not include details on weekend traffic.

Martin said there is a simple explanation: “By evaluating the worst-case scenario, in this case weekday rush-hour traffic, we are able to account for the full extent of potential impacts—it’s an industry standard.”

He said the, “proposed mitigation measures to help with weekday traffic would also have benefits for weekend visitors to areas such as the Oakland Zoo.”

The mitigation plan will require SunCal to address these improvements at its own cost. At the June 21st meeting, however, at least one public comment suggested that many of the improvements called for by study would only make traffic worse. Martin refuted the concerns about traffic worsening by saying traffic conditions would improve.

“This analysis was all done under the guidance of the city, strictly following the city’s transportation and traffic study guidelines –along with industry standards,” he said.

SunCal plans to install the mitigation measures, including signals at intersections, in the first phase of the project so that surrounding neighborhoods and the community will see improvements before the project is built out. Despite these mitigation plans, some are still raising questions.

Martin responded, “It is important for anybody, whether it be a proponent or opponent of the project, to read thoroughly the analysis and documentation that has been done as part of this Supplemental EIR process to better understand project impacts and the proposed improvements that address these impacts.”

Martin also points out that this plan was developed based on considerable community and neighborhood input, years of public meetings and significant participation from city planners, engineers, the neighborhood and the community at large.

He said the study has been reviewed by city staff and peer reviewed by another independent traffic consultant so the public should have confidence in final plans and proposals.

“When we started this project several years ago, SunCal had a clear plan to reach out to as much of the community as possible,” Martin said. “I, along with city staff, participated in those meetings where we took community concerns and addressed those concerns in our analysis.”

While the June 21 meeting heard from some opponents who have long been against redeveloping the Oak Knoll site, over 100 Oak Knoll neighbors and members of the community also voiced their support and offered constructive comments.

“The developer must continue to work with the city, AC Transit, Caltrans, and the public for this to be a success,” said Martin.

According to SunCal, which has committed to community engagement and traffic mitigation, along with expanded public transportation, traffic congestion around Oak Knoll can be reduced. But none of these improvements can happen until Oak Knoll is given final approval by the city.

So, for now, residents must all wait in traffic.

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Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

Published

5 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Oakland Post

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Bay Area

Glydways Breaking Ground on 14-Acre Demonstration Facility at Hilltop Mall

Glydways has been testing its technology at CCTA’s GoMentum Station in Concord for several years. The company plans to install an ambitious 28-mile Autonomous Transit Network in East Contra Costa County. The new Richmond facility will be strategically positioned near that project, according to Glydways.

Published

2 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Image of planned Richmond facility courtesy of Glydways.

The Richmond Standard

Glydways, developer of microtransit systems using autonomous, small-scale vehicles, is breaking ground on a 14-acre Development and Demonstration Facility at the former Hilltop Mall property in Richmond, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) reported on social media.

Glydways, which released a statement announcing the project Monday, is using the site while the mall property undergoes a larger redevelopment.

“In the interim, Glydways will use a portion of the property to showcase its technology and conduct safety and reliability testing,” the company said.

The new Richmond development hub will include “over a mile of dedicated test track, enabling Glydways to refine its solutions in a controlled environment while simulating real-world conditions,” the company said.

Visitors to the facility will be able to experience on-demand travel, explore the control center and visit a showroom featuring virtual reality demonstrations of Glydways projects worldwide.

The hub will also house a 13,000-square-foot maintenance and storage facility to service the growing fleet of Glydcars.

“With this new facility [at the former Hilltop Mall property], we’re giving the public a glimpse of the future, where people can experience ultra-quiet, on-demand transit—just like hailing a rideshare, but with the reliability and affordability of public transit,” said Tim Haile, executive director of CCTA.

Janet Galvez, vice president and investment officer at Prologis, owner of the Hilltop Mall property, said her company is “thrilled” to provide space for Glydways and is continuing to work with the city on future redevelopment plans for the broader mall property.

Richmond City Manager Shasa Curl added that Glydways’ presence “will not only help test new transit solutions but also activate the former Mall site while preparation and finalization of the Hilltop Horizon Specific Plan is underway.

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Alameda County

Last City Council Meeting of the Year Ends on Sour Note with Big Budget Cuts

In a five to one vote, with Councilmembers Carroll Fife and Janani Ramachandran excused, the council passed a plan aimed at balancing the $130 million deficit the city is facing. Noel Gallo voted against the plan, previously citing concerns over public safety cuts, while Nikki Fortunato-Bas, Treva Reid, Rebecca Kaplan, Kevin Jenkins, and Dan Kalb voted in agreement with the plan.

Published

2 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Oakland City Council voted on a plan to balance the $130 million deficit at their last regular meeting of 2024. The plan reduces police spending by $25 million, temporarily closes two fire stations, and guts the cultural arts programs. iStock photo.

By Magaly Muñoz

In the last lengthy Tuesday meeting of the Oakland City Council for 2024, residents expressed strong opposition to the much needed budget cuts before a change in leadership was finalized with the certification of election results.

Oakland police and fire departments, the ambassador program, and city arts and culture will all see significant cuts over the course of two phases.

Phase 1 will eliminate two police academies, brown out two fire stations, eliminate the ambassador program, and reduce police overtime by nearly $25 million. These, with several other cuts across departments, aim to save the city $60 million. In addition, the council simultaneously approved to transfer restricted funds into its general purpose fund, amounting to over $40 million.

Phase 2 includes additional fire station brownouts and the elimination of 91 jobs, aiming to recover almost $16 million in order to balance the rest of the budget.

Several organizations and residents spoke out at the meeting in hopes of swaying the council to not make cuts to their programs.

East Oakland Senior Center volunteers and members, and homeless advocates, filled the plaza just outside of City Hall with rallies to show their disapproval of the new budget plan. Senior residents told the council to “remember that you’ll get old too” and that disturbing their resources will only bring problems for an already struggling community.

While city staff announced that there would not be complete cuts to senior center facilities, there would be significant reductions to staff and possibly inter-program services down the line.

Exiting council member and interim mayor Bas told the public that she is still hopeful that the one-time $125 million Coliseum sale deal will proceed in the near future so that the city would not have to continue with drastic cuts. The deal was intended to save the city for fiscal year 2024-25, but a hold up at the county level has paused any progress and therefore millions of dollars in funds Oakland desperately needs.

The Coliseum sale has been a contentious one. Residents and city leaders were originally against using the deal as a way to balance the budget, citing doubts about the sellers, the African American Sports and Entertainment Group’s (AASEG), ability to complete the deal. Council members Reid, Ramachandran, and Gallo have called several emergency meetings to understand where the first installments of the sale are, with little to no answers.

Bas added that as the new Alameda County Supervisor for D5, a position she starts in a few weeks, she will do everything in her power to push the Coliseum sale along.

The city is also considering a sales tax measure to put on the special election ballot on April 15, 2025, which will also serve as an election to fill the now vacant D2 and mayor positions. The tax increase would raise approximately $29 million annually for Oakland, allowing the city to gain much-needed revenue for the next two-year budget.

The council will discuss the possible sales tax measure on January 9.