OakDOT repaved Telegraph between 37th Street and 52nd Street in fall 2020. Repaving provided the chance to implement the Let's Bike Oakland protected bike lane recommendation. After repaving, we restriped the street to provide a bike lane adjacent to the curb, reduce the number of travel lanes to keep vehicle traffic traveling closer to the posted speed limit, and improve pedestrian crossings. Concrete bus boarding islands are coming in early 2021.
Should residents have any questions concerning the construction of the project, please contact the inspecting engineer— Jackie Buenrostro at jbuenrostro@oaklandca.gov.
Project location
Telegraph Avenue has several projects underway connecting and repairing KONO, Pill Hill, Mosswood, and Temescal. Over the next few years, the corridor will receive comprehensive safety treatments to better serve people walking, biking, busing and driving along this major Oakland corridor.
Background (2018-2020)
This project will include fresh pavement, safety improvements, and other strategies to ensure that this portion of Telegraph works for all road users. After design development and community outreach, the plans for Telegraph have been finalized and approved by City Council, and were implemented in 2020.
Telegraph Avenue through Temescal is a key transportation corridor for a number of reasons: it connects residents and visitors to services, businesses and recreation; local businesses provide jobs and opportunity for our community; it’s the quickest, most direct path of travel via transit, walking and biking from Downtown Oakland to UC Berkeley; and it provides key regional connections via MacArthur BART and the 24 and 580 Freeways.
Space on this segment of the street, however, is limited. Repairing Telegraph involved not only repaving, but also weighing tradeoffs and designing a street that best serves all Oaklanders and visitors.
To guide our decision-making process, OakDOT selected the final project design based on the following factors:
- Safety
- Telegraph is a High Injury Corridor*
- Safety for all users is a priority
- Equity
- Community Input
- During this planning process, our team asked the community to share their experience on Telegraph, how they use the corridor, and what improvements they value the most.
- We collected input through the following methods: on-the-ground sidewalk stickers promoting a user survey, online promotion of the user survey, merchant surveys to all affected merchants, mobile workshops on the street, tabling at community events, and attending community meetings
- Vibrancy
- Creating opportunities for beautification and increasing foot traffic
*Telegraph Avenue through Temescal is a high injury corridor (HIC), meaning that severe and fatal crashes concentrate on this corridor. In fact, HICs in Oakland make up just 6% of our streets, but account for 60% of severe and fatal traffic crashes. For this reason, preventing future life-changing or life-ending crashes and ensuring safety along the corridor is the City’s top priority in redesigning this street.
Project Designs
In addition to attending community meetings and collaborating with merchants on Telegraph, OakDOT also surveyed nearly 1,500 neighbors on their preferences for the street design. Of the two design options OakDOT considered, 77% of survey respondents preferred the protected bike lane option with in-lane transit boarding islands.
84% of survey respondents indicated they would like to see Shattuck Ave from 45th-46th Streets closed to cars and converted into a pedestrian plaza.
Nearly 70% of survey respondents opted for a Bus Only lane with a buffered bike lane between 51st and 52nd Streets.
Events, Meetings, and Outreach
OakDOT engaged residents, business owners, and people who travel up and down the Telegraph corridor in a number of ways:
- Pop-up mobile events to reach street users to understand priorities and preferences for the street
- Door-to-door merchant outreach to learn about specific needs
- Public meetings with neighborhood groups and the business improvement district
- Sidewalk stickers, posters, business cards, and social media promotion to direct people to surveys where they could share their priorities and preferences
Past Meetings and Outreach Events
Public Works Committee
December 4, 2018 11:30am
Sgt. Mark Dunakin room, City Hall
City Council Meeting
December 11, 2018 6:30pm
City Council Chambers, City Hall
Longfellow Community Association Meeting
September 12, 2018
Sidewalk Mobile Workshop
August 28, 2018
Telegraph Open House
August 21, 2018
Faith Presbyterian Church
Sidewalk Mobile Workshop
August 3, 2018
Art + Soul Oakland
July 29, 2018
Frank Ogawa Plaza
PedalFest Mobile Workshop
July 28, 2018
Jack London Square
Mobile Workshop
July 24, 2018
Temescal Plaza
40th Street Block Party
July 14, 2018
Temescal Merchants Association Meeting
July 11, 2018
Shattuck NCPC Meeting
July 10, 2018
Temescal Street Fair
June 10, 2018
