ACTIA Awards Grant to Improve Intersections on Lakeshore, Lake Park Avenues and Mac Arthur Blvd.
There is cause for celebration in the Grand Lake neighborhood. Area residents, led by the Grand Lake Traffic Calming Committee (GLTCC), have been lobbying the City for years to make intersections at Lakeshore and Lake Park Avenue and Lakeshore and MacArthur Blvd. safer for pedestrians and cyclists. Some combination of improvements at the Lake Park and Lakeshore intersections has been a topic of discussion between the GLTCC and the City Transportation Services Division (TSD) since 2000.
You may remember that in November 2008, we ran an article on the proposed changes and collected input about the basic concept for the proposal by email and in-person at the Grand Lake Farmers Market on a Saturday afternoon. Generally, reaction from the community was positive.
After GLTCC members worked through many ideas, proposals and meetings with TSD engineers, and TSD received positive comments on the proposal, the City had the opportunity to apply for an Alameda County Transportation Improvement Authority (ACTIA) grant last December and decided that the Lakeshore improvements fit the grant criteria and would be competitive in the process. The ACTIA grant would award a total of $4 million from the County-wide Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Fund, which is funded through Measure B, the half-cent transportation sales tax that was originally approved by voters in 1986.
Project features include:
Lakeshore at Lake Park Intersection
* New pedestrian and transit Plaza
* Relocated bus stop from Lakeshore and MacArthur to the new plaza
* New crosswalk alignment to reduce pedestrian crossing distance
* New curb ramps
* Closure of Rand Avenue from Lakeshore to accommodate the new plaza
Northern Side of Lake Park Avenue
* Sidewalk widened by six feet
* Extended bus stop to accommodate longer buses
South Eastern Corner of MacArthur Blvd and Lakeshore Avenue Intersection
* New curb bulb-out to reduce pedestrian crossing distances
* Reduction of vehicle turning speeds from north bound Lakeshore Avenue to 580 Eastbound
See conceptual drawing below:
Please note this drawing represents basic concepts envisioned, but there will be more opportunity for input as the engineering design process, required prior to construction, takes place.
ACTIA received 28 grant applications in December 2008, totaling $11.2 million in requests for the available $4 million in funding. The group of projects was reviewed by both ACTIA staff and Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) members and scored. Eventually the list was whittled down to 12 capital projects and approved by the ACTIA Board of Directors. The Lakeshore improvements project scored second highest among all the projects in the grant competition and qualified for grant funding in the amount of $573,599. The grant funding coupled with City Council District 2 and District 5 Paygo and AC transit matching funds, as well as, funding from Measure DD required to mitigate traffic effects at the Lakeshore/Lake Park intersection, brings the project total to just over $1.2 million dollars.
The City will embark on the formal project design process now that grant funding has been obtained. Stay tuned to our e-news for opportunities for more input in the design phase. Contact Jerry Cauthen, Chair of the GLTCC, to be added to his email list for future meeting announcements and news on this and other Grand Lake traffic improvement plans cautn1@aol.com. Thank you to Jerry and all the GLTCC members for your hard work and ongoing efforts to make the Grand Lake a more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly neighborhood.
