Construction is nearing completion on a two-way protected bike lane on Grand Street in Alameda from Shore Line to Otis Drive. At Otis there's a protected intersection feeding into conventional lanes. At Shore Line Drive, as seen in the lead image, it feeds into one of the first parking-protected bike lanes in the Bay Area, built back in 2015.
"I rode the new section last night. It's pretty sweet," wrote Bike Walk Alameda's Denyse Trepanier. "Grand is looking pretty grand today!" wrote Bike Walk Alameda advocate Cyndy Johnsen in a social media post.
More from the city:
The work being done now is the first phase (“Segment A”) of the construction of an uninterrupted two-way bikeway on Grand Street from Shore Line Drive to Clement Avenue. This phase is approximately 0.25 miles in length on Grand Street, between Shore Line Drive and Otis Drive.
Improvements include full-width pavement rehabilitation, ADA compliant curb ramps, on-street parking, a mid-block crosswalk near Wood School with flashing beacons and pedestrian refuge island, bus stop improvements, and restriping for existing automobile travel lanes.
According to the city, construction started on May 5 on this first phase and should conclude next month.
The crosswalk improvements and bus boarding islands (see lead image and shot below) are robust and impressive.
As mentioned, this is part of a larger, 1.3-mile project to join the Shore Line protected lane with the cross-Alameda trail (at Clement) across the northern part of the island city. See the map below from the city. South is left and north is to the right on this map instead of up and down.
"Phase 2, Otis to Encinal, is funded with the design expected to be complete in April 2026 and construction to start in the summer," explained Sarah Henry, a spokesperson for the city.
Unfortunately, things are not looking rosy for Phase 3, to get it the rest of the way to Clement. The northern part of the project received fierce opposition from relatively wealthy homeowners on Grand.
"Nothing's really happening with that section for a while. When the design concept was approved by the City Council for that section a couple of years ago, they gave a tentative timeline of 2030, which was also approved. Given how far behind they are on some other 2030 projects (technically, the bike network backbone should be done by then), I'm not hopeful," explained Trepanier.
"The concept for the last phase is approved, but we have not yet identified funding for detailed design and construction. This phase will be a top priority for upcoming grant application windows, as it is on the 2030 Low Stress Backbone Network," said Henry.
From Streetsblog's view, it's great that this 1/4-mile initial section is now all but done, but let's hope the delays to the rest of the project don't result in another death or injury.
