Background
Broadway, historically Oakland’s “main street,” is a major high frequency transit corridor. More buses run on Broadway than on any other street in Oakland, and bus service on Broadway connects to all parts of the AC Transit system, making it a critical regional corridor. However, Broadway remains an auto-oriented street, leading to bus delays and unreliable travel times for routes serving East Oakland, North Oakland, and West Oakland. This creates barriers to travel by the AC Transit bus system, and interconnected transit systems, such as BART, Capitol Corridor, and the WETA Ferry, which connect Oakland with the larger Bay Area. Broadway is also part of Oakland's High Injury Network, meaning it is one of just 6% of streets that account for over 60% of severe and fatal traffic crashes, mostly due to speeding and not yielding to pedestrians.
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Project Scope
The Broadway Streetscape Improvement project will make enhancements to bus operations, pedestrian safety, and the city’s fiber optic network on Broadway between 2nd Street and 11th Street and 20th Street to Grand Avenue. Improvements include:
- Red bus-only lanes to extend the existing bus-only lanes and further improve transit access and reliability
- Transit Signal Priority (TSP) at all signalized intersections to help keep the signals green for approaching buses to improve reliability
- New bus shelters, seating, and trash cans at bus stops
- Additional street trees, landscaping, and public seating along the corridor
- Pedestrian safety and accessibility measures such as large curb extensions to narrow intersections, slow turning movements, and improve yielding to people walking, new ADA curb ramps, high-visibility crosswalks, upgraded intersection safety lighting, and wayfinding signage to increase safety and visibility
- Broadway/I-880 underpass enhancements with lighting and placemaking elements to invite people to travel between neighborhoods with more comfort
- Removal of the existing slip turn at the 6th Street and Broadway off-ramp intersection to mitigate high-speed vehicular right-turns and poor sight lines between freeway off-ramp drivers and pedestrians in the crosswalk
- Fiber-optic cabling on Broadway between Embarcadero West and 7th Street to improve signal coordination through the corridor
- Upgrading traffic signals and provide protected left turns to increase safety
- Repaving the road
- Lowering the speed limit as part of a new Oakland ordinance to enhance safety
This project is currently in the final design phase.
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Past Engagement and Outcomes
Several prior planning efforts have called for improvements on Broadway. These include the 2017 Pedestrian Plan, 2019 Bike Plan, Draft Downtown Oakland Specific Plan, Transit Action Strategy, Howard Terminal Transportation Plan, Capital Improvement Program, and the Oakland Alameda Access Project. As part of this prior planning work, engagement took place in the form of community and stakeholder meetings, workshops, surveys, and more. A summary of this previous engagement can be found in the Broadway Community Engagement Summary (2015-2022).
Building on past engagement, the project team conducted additional engagement in Summer 2023 to ensure that the project scope was in line with current stakeholder needs and to inform the conceptual plans. The Broadway Streetscape Improvements Engagement Summary (Summer 2023) describes the engagement approach, the feedback received, and explains how this feedback will be used to shape this project.
During Fall and Winter 2023, the project team conducted additional engagement to refine the project designs. This engagement included presentations, meetings, and an open house event. Click here to learn more about the Community Streetscape Project Open House. You can also watch a video of the event by clicking here.
A final report that describes all engagement leading up to the final designs is coming soon! This report will describe how feedback informed the project designs.
Page last updated: April 26, 2024
