Eyes on the Street: Horton Street Awesomeness
Given the heavy rains, it’s unlikely too many readers will be up for a recreational ride to go check this out. But Streetsblog wanted to give a quick update to start the weekend of another top-notch project finishing up in Emeryville—a new sidewalk-level, fully separated bike lane on Horton.
“In Emeryville the raised protected bikeways are on 53rd Street from Horton Street to Hollis Street, connecting to the ones on Horton from 45th St to 53rd Street,” explained Bike East Bay’s Robert Prinz. “There is also a new protected section on Shellmound Street from 62nd St to 65th Street that still has a little construction left to go but I’m considering it done and rideable.”
Unfortunately, not all the news is good. “The 53rd and Horton facilities were funded and constructed by the developer of the Emery Yards office development, as a partial mitigation for the horrific 2000-space car parking garage [emphasis added, see photo below of the garage] they built along the Horton bike boulevard,” continued Prinz. “The approvals for that garage were given in the 90s, but still carried through decades later.”
So even Emeryville is still using land to house more cars instead of people.
Still, it’s nice to see the effects of Mayor John Bauters’s past efforts to try and make lemonade from the parking-lot lemons he inherited.
The full diverter mentioned in the Tweet at 53rd and Horton is pretty awesome, creating some car free space at the intersection (see photos below).
This project is nearing completion and Streetsblog will take another visit when the weather breaks.
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