Bicycle Lanes Coming to Main Street
Published on October 15, 2019
PRESS RELEASE
October 15, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Scott Wikstrom, City Engineer
510-747-7937
Bicycle Lanes Coming to Main Street
Better bicycle access and a safer street for all are coming to Main Street! The City will restripe Main Street from Pacific Avenue to the Main Street Ferry Terminal to reduce the roadway from four auto travel lanes with no shoulder to three auto lanes plus bicycle lanes in late October and early November of this year. The public has long requested better bicycle access to this Ferry Terminal. With the Cross Alameda Trail from Constitution Way to Main Street set to open later this year, the Site A portion of the Cross Alameda Trail along West Atlantic opening next year, new bicycle lanes coming to the western portion of Pacific Avenue in spring 2020, and the future Central Avenue Complete Streets project, this Main Street project will provide a critical link in creating a safe and connected bike network, making bicycling an even more popular way to travel to the ferry.
The striping project which totals $110,000 will:
• Improve safety and comfort for people bicycling by adding five-foot bicycle lanes.
• Reduce collisions by reducing the roadway from four auto vehicle lanes to one lane in each direction, plus a center turn lane. Projects like these have been shown by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to reduce crashes by 19-47%.
• Improve safety for left-turning motorists by increasing visibility of oncoming traffic and reducing the number of conflict points.
• Help slow auto vehicle speeds to the speed limit by reducing the number and width of the auto vehicle lanes.
• Not impact auto capacity. The FHWA recommends road lane reductions for streets with under 20,000 vehicles per day. Traffic counts on Main Street are well below, with an average of 4,500 to 6,000 vehicles per day.
In late 2017, 18% of all ferry users commuted by bicycle to the Main Street Ferry, an increase of over 60% from 2014. The Main Street restriping project will improve safety for those riding today and encourage even more people to ride in the future.
There are 65 bicycle racks and 20 electronic shared-use bicycle lockers at the Main Street Ferry Terminal. The lockers are inexpensive to use, and require a BikeLink card, which can be purchased at Stone’s Cyclery and Alameda Bicycle, or online.
The Master Infrastructure Plan (MIP) for Alameda Point, approved by the City Council in 2014, included a Main Street roadway section and the conversion of the existing four lane roadway to a three-lane roadway with separated cycle track and pedestrian pathways. Since it will still be several years before all of Main Street is reconstructed to the MIP-approved configuration, City staff developed the project being implemented on Main Street to improve bicyclist and auto safety in the near term.
For more background information, please visit:
Transportation Commission approval of the Main Street Restriping Project
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