A Chance to Celebrate!
The 14th St Safety Project breaks ground this Monday, and you can be there.
Dear Neighbors,
On Monday, Jan. 29th, there will be a groundbreaking at City Hall for the 14th St safety project., and it is, as Joe Biden would say, a BFD. Way back in 2013, bike advocates in what was then the East Bay Bike Coalition (now Bike East Bay) envisioned a new 14th St, along with redesigned Telegraph and Park Blvds. And they started pushing for it. Now, 11 years later, ground is breaking on the second of those three projects. Time to celebrate!
From the press release:
The City of Oakland will host an official groundbreaking Monday to kick off construction of a $20.9 million safety project on 14th Street in the heart of Oakland's downtown. Located on the High Injury Network and serving some of Oakland’s highest priority equity neighborhoods, the project will implement improved pedestrian crossings, sidewalk improvements, separated bike lanes, landscaping, enhanced bus boarding islands and shelters, protected intersections, traffic signal and street lighting upgrades, community-led public art installations, and much more on 14th Street from Brush Street to Lakeside Drive/Oak Street.
When: Monday, January 29, 2024, at 12 noon
Where: Oakland City Hall (1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza) steps
Why come?
Well, it’s a moment to feel the joy of progress, and that is important! Several TVRR members will be there. If you can come, please approach city leaders and their aides and let them know that you, an Oakland resident and voter, value traffic safety very highly, and that you appreciate that they have managed to get this project to this point. And that you want to see more! If you can’t make a Monday mid-day in-person event (like most people, probably) then why not write in to thank the Mayor for all future projects of this kind? Many more projects, on Grand, on Lakeshore, on 66th Avenue, on International Blvd, on Seminary Ave., and MLK, Jr Way, to name a few, are still on the drawing board. We need safe streets across all of Oakland! Write to: officeofthemayor@oaklandca.gov.
Why this is important
As noted, 14th Street, which stretches from Lake Merritt past City Hall, and through West Oakland, is part of the High-Injury Network, those 6% of Oakland streets where over 60% of injury and fatality crashes occur. This is due to the wide, multi-lane, and unobstructed design of the street which affords far too much space for cars, encouraging drivers to drive faster and faster.
The new design has worked through the usual compromises and negotiations with local businesses, the Oakland Fire Department, and other interests, as well as the continued and persistent advocacy of Oaklanders who want safer streets. But kudos to Charlie Ream, the lead planner on the project, and the rest of the OakDOT team, for piloting this project through. This project will without doubt make 14th St much safer.
TVRR has staged two vigil actions on 14th Street, one for Dmitry Putilov in June 2022, and one for Willie Jackson, in August of that same year. We remember them, and others, as we watch this important project go forward. Hopefully, this project will bring the dangers on this street to an end. Hope to see you!
Other positive events
Our friends at The Crucible, who have a bike repair shop and host classes and other excellent resources for bike users, are holding their first ever bike summit on Saturday, March 2nd, from 10-4, at the intersection of 8th and Union Streets in West Oakland, very close to West Oakland BART.
You can read all about it HERE.
Next, there is a casual monthly event called Car-Free Happy Hour that happens early each month at different locations around Oakland, Emeryville and Berkeley. The next one is on Tuesday Feb 6 at 5:30PM at Freehouse, 2700 Bancroft Way in Berkeley, adjacent to the UC Campus. Come one, come all! Look for all the folks with bicycle helmets in the courtyard! To join the email list for this monthly event, you can sign up here http://eepurl.com/irgp2-/
