Encinal Avenue Before
Encinal Avenue Before
Encinal Avenue After
Encinal Avenue After
Lincoln and Versailles Ave Before
Lincoln and Versailles Ave Before
Lincoln and Versailles Avenue After
Lincoln and Versailles Avenue After
Traffic safety and traffic calming are an ongoing priority for the City of Alameda. Safe streets are streets where drivers slow down and comply with posted speed limits. The vast majority of Alameda’s streets have posted 25 mile per hour speed limits. A variety of tools can help drivers slow down and most of these tools involve the three E’s of engineering, enforcement, and education. The City’s approach to implementing the 3 E’s are the responsibility of the City Manager’s Office, Public Works, Police, and Transportation Planning.
Specific traffic calming measures are aimed at slowing traffic in order to improve safety for people who walk, bike, drive, or use public transit. Studies show the risk of significant injury goes up dramatically as speeds increase above 20 miles per hour.
Traffic safety measures can be implemented along a corridor or in a single location, such as an intersection. Alameda is in the midst of implementing more than $30+ million of corridor traffic calming improvements. These include construction of complete streets to improve safety for all users at:
In addition, in 2019 the City completed a traffic calming project on Main Street between Pacific and the Main Street Ferry that added bike lanes, converted the street from four lanes into two with a center turn lane, and improved traffic signal timing. These conversions, sometimes known as a “road diets”, have been shown to reduce crashes by up to 47%.
Traffic calming also includes installation of equipment or striping at a single location. Public Works’ annual street resurfacing program includes high-visibility ladder-style crosswalks, corner bulbouts, and intersection daylighting where red curbs are installed or extended to increase sightlines.
Traffic calming can include temporary installations of a speed feedback sign to make drivers more aware of their speeds.
Traffic calming can include permanent installations of flashing lights at crosswalks. These lightshave been shown to increase the percentage of drivers yielding at crosswalks from 18% to 88%. This equipment is located at the following locations:
- Fernside/Versailles
- Otis (SR 61)/Mound
- Mecartney/Belmont
- Pacific/Fourth
- Central/Sixth
- Park/San Antonio
- Park/Pacific
- Main Street/O’ Club Parking lot
- Fernside Blvd/ San Jose Ave.
- 8th St./Taylor Ave.
- 8th St./Portola Ave.
- Webster St./Taylor Ave.
- Park St. Webb Ave.
- Island Dr./Maitland
- Webster/Haight
- Atlantic Ave/Wind River Dr. (Jean Sweeney Cross Alameda Trail Crossing)
- Fernside/Harvard (installed by May 2020)
In the meantime, Public Works, Police, and the Transportation Planning Unit evaluate locations for traffic calming and/or other safety measures based on the location’s history of reported collisions, police citations, pedestrian and bicycle safety consideration, complete street plans and policies, public input, and relationship with existing transportation plans and improvements.
To propose a location for traffic calming, please go here and submit a Traffic Calming Suggestion. Staff will then include this suggestion at its annual reviews. Given funding is always a constraint, staff prioritize locations where data demonstrate a traffic safety issue. This is consistent with our City Council’s Vision Zero Policy that relies on a data-driven approach.