Please submit your landscape design comments in advance (details below).

Not quite two years ago, the Grand Lake Traffic Calming Committee went public with its proposals for pedestrian safety improvements on Lakeshore Avenue at Lake Park. See article in the Grand Lake Guardian. The City of Oakland's traffic engineers, with additional input from AC Transit, used the GLTCC recommendations as the starting point for plans that culminated in a major grant from ACTIA.

With additional funding from AC Transit, Measure DD, and discretionary funding from Councilmembers Pat Kernighan and Ignacio De La Fuente, a total of $1.2 million is budgeted for a project that is scheduled to begin construction late next year.

The Lakeshore Complete Streets Project, as it's now called, consists of three basic elements as shown in these plans.

   The first element calls for a widened sidewalk on Lake Park to better accommodate the AC Transit bus stop and create a more pedestrian-friendly connection between Grand and Lakeshore.

   The second element calls for a sidewalk bulb out on Lakeshore at MacArthur that will shorten the crosswalk and slow down drivers turning right onto the freeway entrance.

   The third element will relocate the existing crosswalk on Lakeshore at the freeway off ramp; create a new bus stop replacing the one under the freeway; and create a pedestrian/transit plaza by expanding the existing traffic island at the corner of Lakeshore, Rand and Lake Park.

This is how the City Transportation Services Department describes the intended benefits:

The Lakeshore Complete Streets project improves pedestrian safety in the Lakeshore Avenue / Lake Park Avenue vicinity. The proposed roadway reconfiguration will result in additional pedestrian space and the opportunity to enhance the northeast corner of the Lakeshore / Lake Park intersection.

The next step in the planning process is to formulate a landscape design that will include plants, street furniture and other amenities. To this end, the City has contracted with Sasaki Associates to provide landscape design services.

The community will have an opportunity to hear about various landscape design options for the new pedestrian spaces and provide more input on January 7th as the Grand Lake Neighbors (in conjunction with the Grand Lake Traffic Calming Committee) hosts a 7:00 pm community meeting in the Family Room at Lakeshore Baptist Church.

In advance of the January 7th meeting, Joanna Fong, the landscape architect assigned to this project, has invited comments from members of the Grand Lake community that will help her shape her initial, public presentation. Your comments should be focused on answering these specific questions:

How do you want to use the specific pedestrian areas (i.e., what function or activity do you envision for these spaces, particularly the pedestrian plaza at Lakeshore, Rand and Lake Park)? What would you like to see improved at the project intersections (thinking in terms of street furniture, landscape architecture, and landscaping)? What varieties of plantings would you like to see more of in these locations?

Please email your comments by Monday, December 14 to Council Aide Joanne Karchmer, at jkarchmer@oaklandnet.com..