pages: TransportationCommission/2016-01-27.pdf, 8
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TransportationCommission | 2016-01-27 | 8 | Austin Lee, AC Transit Transportation Planner, said he would like to work with City staff to develop an alternative to the proposal because AC Transit staff was not aware of the design concepts until that day. He explained that although they have not fully reviewed the design, upon initial glance the proposal presented would remove a lane of traffic and remove a bus stop. He stated that this bus stop has the third highest boardings for this particular route. He also exclaimed that the Estuary Crossing Shuttle stops at the bus stop on Atlantic Avenue and Webster Street headed eastbound. Yet, he felt there are alternatives and they could look at this further in order to ensure that everyone benefits from the project. Jim Sweeney, representing Jim Sweeney Open Space Park Public Charitable Non profit foundation, stated that the foundation's purpose is to raise money for the park and maintain the park. He said he strongly endorsed staff's report and design and he believed the design met the many challenges and complexities while creating a practical and safe trail through the Alameda Trail gap and with the most reasonable impact on motor vehicle traffic. He looked forward to the refinement and implementation of the details and he urged the Commission to approve the recommendations. Brian McGuire, Alameda resident, stated that staff made a cost affective solution to close the Cross Alameda Trail while having a key bike facility on this block. He said this option would be utilized by students and people headed to the ferries. He felt the presentation was a good example of why the state has stopped using LOS to evaluate some of these impacts. He pointed out that on this block, traffic calming on a two-way cycle track when mentioning speed not talking about cars flowing through was a feature not a bug. He said a protective bike facility was part of the grant application, which is part of the Jean Sweeney section of the path. So, when the project came before the Commission that disappeared and the City owes it to the project funders and users of the trail to do this. He exclaimed that without a dedicated bike facility here there would be a gap with people using the sidewalks and others all over the place because the area is not clearly defined. He ultimately felt that there are solutions to these problems and if motorists expect bikes there, then cars will see that and this will prevent accidents. He noted that one benefit would be once there is AC Transit service coming down that lane they could just shift over and you could add a left queue jump lane on Webster Street. Therefore, you are not really losing a lane here because this is not traffic going to the tube, but actually local traffic. Lucy Gigli, President of Bike Walk Alameda, said she was pleased that staff worked with stakeholders to find a solution to serve the neighborhood and create a safe corridor. She could not stress the importance of this solution to connect the two pieces of the Cross Alameda Trail. She stated that without a simple and safe solution the intersection would create chaos. Thus, she asked the Commission to move this concept forward noting that some of the details like traffic and bicycle signals and moving the bus stop could be analyzed later. Michelle Ellison, said providing a safe and continuous route for those who walk and bike was important. She explained that this plan was something that the City committed to, but the block proved to be challenging to deal with. She felt moving forward City staff has done a great job to quickly pull together a solution to a vexing problem by speaking to stakeholders and finding money to fund this and maintain the landscaping that merchants really value. She went on to say that it was not about the details of the plan, but to say to City staff that the Commission would like to move forward. Therefore, she urged the Commission to tell staff to develop this further. Page 8 of 16 | TransportationCommission/2016-01-27.pdf |