Study appendices are available at this link:
www.cccounty.us/SanPabloCSappendices
In September 2014, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) approved the recommended list of projects for the PDA Planning Grant Program along with a list of on-call consultant teams to perform the work. The San Pablo Avenue Complete Streets Project was awarded $300,000 in grant funds and Contra Costa County selected ARUP as the consultant to conduct the planning study.
The goal of the planning study is to determine the feasibility of incorporating complete street improvements along San Pablo Avenue between Rodeo and Crockett. This segment is approximately 3 miles and could provide connection to existing bicycle and pedestrian facilities on either end of the project, Lone Tree Point on the west end and the Alfred Zampa Bridge on the east end, and also serve as a segment of the San Francisco Bay Trail alignment.
In July 2016, the County adopted a Complete Streets Policy directing staff to incorporate Complete Streets infrastructure into existing streets to improve the safety and convenience for all users and to maximize opportunities for Complete Streets, connectivity, and cooperation. In accordance with the County’s Complete Streets Policy, this study aims to improve safety along a segment of San Pablo Avenue for all users.
The existing 4-lane roadway has little to no shoulders, no separation between opposing travel lanes, and approximately 10% of the entire corridor has pedestrian or bicycle facilities. Existing traffic volumes along the corridor are only approximately 25% of the total capacity and are not expected to increase significantly in the future. This provides an opportunity to reduce the travel lanes and reconfigure the roadway to provide space for bicycle and pedestrian facilities and create an interchangeable middle lane that could be utilized for left turn pockets, center turn lanes, medians, or truck climbing lanes.
The study is intended to identify a preferred alternative for implementation. Three alternatives were developed as part of the study: 1) Bike Lanes Alternative, 2) Share Use Path Alternative, and 3) Widened Shared Use Path Alternative. The alternatives were assessed using a range of evaluation criteria that included safety and experience for all modes of travel (pedestrians, bicyclists, vehicles, trucks, transit); traffic impacts; right-of-way impacts; utility impacts, environmental impacts, and estimated costs.
The study incorporated a series of technical studies, field work, public outreach, and engineering analysis which provided the basis for the recommended alternative. The recommended alternative incorporates Alternative 2 – Shared Use Path with some modifications to maintain the existing on-street bike lanes between Lone Tree Point and California Street and implement a shared bicycle/pedestrian path on the north side of the roadway for the remainder of the corridor.
The study included a community outreach process consisting of community workshops, online surveys, project website, stakeholder meetings, and formation of a Technical Advisory Committee. In March 2017, the Draft Report was made available for public comment. A wide range of comments has been received about the study and response to these comments can be found in the appendix of the Feasibility Report.
In summary, the recommended alternative provides the best overall complete streets performance by incorporating a range of safety benefits for all modes of travel while minimizing project impacts. The estimated cost for the recommended alternative is $8.2 million. |