But the years-long pilot project stoked conflicts between different communities and revealed problems with the city’s transportation planning process.

Five years ago, Oakland planners broke ground on a bold project on Telegraph Avenue: a protected bicycle lane. It might not seem like that big of a deal until you see it. Most bicycle lanes in Oakland and the rest of California are the buffered type, which place bike riders in a painted strip next to vehicle traffic, with parked cars on their right. Protected lanes entirely separate bicyclists from moving traffic by putting a barrier in between them.

To do this on Telegraph, Department of Transportation staff started by reducing its four-driving lane design to two, with one lane for each direction of vehicle traffic, and a center turn lane. Then they moved car parking about four feet away from the curb and painted stripes designating the space in between parked cars and the sidewalk as the protected bicycle lane. 

Over time, the Department of Transportation, commonly referred to as OakDOT, added other physical barriers like bollards, plastic poles stuck into the ground to better separate the protected lanes from the parking spaces, and planters and small islands. This pilot project was intended to demonstrate the effectiveness of protected lanes, and eventually the city would build permanent concrete separators and wider bike lanes, making the changes permanent.

But on June 2, OakDOT Director Ryan Russo recommended abandoning the protected lanes and returning the street to a buffered layout. The announcement caught many by surprise and marked an about-face for one of the transportation department’s most high-profile projects.

In a blog post explaining his decision, Russo wrote that it came down to three things. First, the many staggered outlets and entry points for cars, bikes, and pedestrians created dangerous intersections between the protected bike lanes and traffic. Second, the protected design, at least in its pilot phase, failed to alleviate potentially harmful economic effects on local businesses. And third, OakDOT was unable to conduct sufficient and equitable community outreach about the redesign and its impacts. Russo said further improvements could not overcome these issues.

“We brought in well-received bus boarding islands, two kinds of plastic posts, and planters designed to both beautify and protect the installation,” he wrote about improvements. “But each of these interventions proved temporary and insufficient.” Cars ended up running over posts, people removed planters, and the islands caused accidents. 

The board of the KONO Community Benefit District, which represents business owners in the area, viewed Russo’s announcement as a victory. Many shop owners and restaurants think the bike lanes are bad for their business. They’d gathered more than 1,800 signatures on a Change.org petition calling for the removal of the bike lanes. 

Oakland’s and California’s wider biking advocacy communities were horrified by the plan to take out the protected bike lanes. They believe that the paths were much safer than the buffered lanes could ever be, and they accused OakDOT of caving to the demands of businesses that care more about parking than traffic safety. 

Dave Snyder, the California Bicycle Coalition’s executive director, told The Oaklandside that OakDOT’s recommendation was unprecedented. The Telegraph Avenue changes were approved under the state’s Active Transportation Program, and out of nearly a thousand similar bike and pedestrian safety improvements also approved through ATP program since its inception in 2013, only one other project Snyder can think of, he said, reverted back to an old design. 

Multiple city and regional transportation authorities rejected OakDOT’s proposal to take out the protected lanes, including the city’s Bicyclist and Pedestrian Advisory Commission, the City Council’s Public Works Committee, and AC Transit.

Yesterday, the City Council considered Russo’s recommendation alongside input from community groups and Oakland residents. After hearing from both sides, the council voted 8-0 to reject Russo and OakDOT’s suggestions. The city will keep the protected lanes and eventually expand them. 

But the council’s decision by no means puts the controversy to rest. The struggle over Telegraph Avenue symbolizes broader challenges facing Oakland about designing our streets and making them safer. With residents loudly questioning what projects get completed and why, and who gets to benefit from them, this week’s decision is a bellwether for other traffic safety projects, raising all kinds of questions.

We examined the origins of the Telegraph Avenue controversy to see if there are lessons to be learned, not just about Telegraph Avenue, but deeper problems affecting our city’s ability to make big transportation changes work for everyone. Sources told us Oakland’s transportation department has staffing problems that cause trouble when the city tries to roll out big projects. In a city with strongly differing views on how to design the streets, these problems can doom pilot projects like the Telegraph bike lanes, even if the lanes are making streets safer. But an even bigger issue is that Oakland still isn’t doing a good job taking into account the views and needs of communities of color, and that failures to properly survey and plan for everyone’s needs causes conflict.

The protected bike lanes made Telegraph Avenue safer, but not everyone felt safe

If the sole purpose of OakDOT redesigning Telegraph Avenue was to make it safer for bikers and pedestrians, then data suggest they should keep the protected bicycle lanes.

Redesigned gardens, works by local artists, and a new café led by Tanya Holland greet guests at the reopened OMCA.

The Oakland Museum of California officially reopened on June 18 after a long 15-month hiatus unveiling an extensive $15 million renovation of its outdoor sculpture garden, a new café by acclaimed Oakland chef Tanya Holland, and new artwork by local artists.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION TO KNOW WHEN VISITING OMCA

• New Museum Hours: Friday – Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., updated hours will begin in the summer 
• Reopening Q&A for the public
• Buy timed-entry tickets

OMCA Director and CEO Lori Fogarty said she is eager and excited to welcome people back into this treasured community space, which was originally built in 1969. The updates have been a long time in the works, with planning getting underway five years ago and construction starting in February 2020.

“If there has been a silver lining in this [past year], it’s that we are now opening and unveiling our transformed garden,” Fogarty said. “We’re thrilled now that we’re opening, and we have this incredibly beautiful new outdoor space.”

Famed landscape architect Walter Hood and architect Mark Cavagnero designed the museum’s new landscape, which was installed by general contractor Cahill Contractors. Museum staff said the goal was to create a more inviting community space for casual hangouts and events.

The main garden in the back of the museum, which features expansive views of Oakland and Lake Merritt, had felt largely underutilized. Where there was once a concrete wall facing Lake Merritt, there are now three gates on the 12th Street side that will connect pedestrians walking between the lake and the museum.

Fogarty said the team knew they needed to change something when, during the 2015 Warriors Championship celebration at the Lake Merritt amphitheater—they realized how close the museum was to the action of Lake Merritt but how far away they felt. 

“There were a million people around the lake. Standing up on one of these terraces looking down, we realized, nobody knows we’re here,” she said, noting this experience planted the seed for the concrete wall’s removal, the creation of the new entrance, and two new ADA-accessible ramps onto the campus.

The museum staff also wanted an improved space that could hold community events, similar to  its popular Friday Nights at OMCA series, which began in 2013. Held on the 10th Street side of the museum, the Friday night programs offered after-hours access to the galleries, in addition to hosting local food vendors, live music, and activities. The new gardens offer the potential for more community programming.

Friday Nights at OMCA is still on pause because of the pandemic, but museum staff say they hope to restart the event this fall. The OMCA team is currently working with Off the Grid, the San Francisco based mobile foods company, to recruit performers and food trucks. “I can say for me personally if there was one thing I miss most in the last 15 months, it was Friday nights at the museum,” Fogarty said.

The plan is to eventually have the museum’s revamped sculpture garden be an open public space—even when the museum is closed. Until then, people can reserve free tickets solely to visit the garden. They will still need to enter at the main entrance on Oak Street and check in with museum staff. 

Part of the garden improvement was the planting of native California plants. Each of the garden’s three levels has a different bioregion terrace: the lower level features ferns, the second level has woodlands, and the top level will eventually be all succulents. 

During the project, some of the existing sculptures were moved and given a proper renovation, including Betty Gold’s Monumental Holistic 1, George Rickey’s Two Red Lines II, a kinetic piece, and Peter Voulkos’ Mr. Ishi, which was originally commissioned when OMCA opened in 1969 but had been stored away. Other California artists with sculptures in the garden include: Ruth Asawa, Bruce Beasley, Beniamino Bufano, Mark di Suvero, and Viola Frey.

Visitors will also get to see new furniture via an installation titled, “Portals,” by Oakland-based artist, Binta Ayofemi. “The furniture element we knew was important,” Forgarty said. “This is a great opportunity to have a local artist be part of this. Utilizing the architecture to create spaces for rest and reflection.”

The benches, picnic tables, and tables for the new café Ayofemi created from local cedar and redwood are placed throughout the gardens, inside the museum, and will also be at the new, buzzworthy café, Town Fare, led by Oakland chef and restaurateur Tanya Holland. News of Holland taking over the space at the museum was announced in February of 2020 after the closure of her restaurant at the San Francisco Ferry Building.

“I’m combining all my interests at once now: my love for Oakland, my love of art, and the outdoors,” said Holland about how visitors will be able to eat her food while enjoying the museum’s gardens. “We get to have our own herbs and small vegetable garden so it’s just really exciting.” 

Holland sees Town Fare as an opportunity to extend her vision of cooking beyond soul food while being in a space that represents the community. “[The space represents] the diversity, which I love about Oakland. I hope that it’ll be well-received.”

Town Fare will operate in a to-go capacity until it opens as a sit-down restaurant later this summer. Foodies will be able to grab picnic boxes to enjoy in the museum’s gardens. Holland said the menu is California soul food-inspired, which will be primarily plant-based and seasonal. Opening weekend dishes included ricotta toast topped with blistered tomatoes, vegetarian muffaletta and fried chicken paillard.

She is also eager to work with local brands, and is partnering with Firebrand Artisan Breads, Red Bay Coffee, and Almanac Beer Company. 

When it opens as a sit-down restaurant later this summer, Town Fare will be open to the public even when the museum is closed, giving that same sense of openness as the gardens. Alterations have been made along the 10th Street side of the museum for the public to have direct entry into the restaurant. 

In terms of what art is on display at this time, visitors can see a new mural adjacent to the gardens that’s the result of the museum’s partnership with the Black Cultural Zone, and its Art for the Movement initiative.

Visitors can also see a special exhibition, “You Are Here: California Stories on the Map,”which originally debuted in March 2020. This exhibit showcases an array of maps from Oakland, the Bay Area, and California, intended to tell the stories of how maps shape who we are. 

Another ongoing exhibition is “Dorothea Lange: Photography as Activism” which pays homage to the renowned documentary photographer, and “Black Power” which tells the history of the Black Power movements throughout California. Later this summer, the museum will also debut “Mothership: Voyage Into Afrofuturism,” which will explore the art, music, literature, and cinema associated with Afrofuturism, the visionary and generative movement which envisions a just future where Black people and Black ideas thrive.

Visitors to the OMCA are encouraged to buy tickets in advance. The museum is still requiring masks regardless of vaccination status. This particular guideline will remain until further advanced notice by OMCA, and tickets are on a timed-entry basis. 

https://oaklandresilientfamilies.org

https://www.oaklandca.gov/news/2021/oakland-fire-department-highlights-strategies-to-keep-residents-safe-prevent-fire-incidents

he Oakland Fire Department, in partnership with other City departments, is taking a range of actions to promote community safety and mitigate the use and impact of illegal fireworks as we approach the Fourth of July and what is expected to be another long fire season.

“The combination of extremely dry vegetation and the ongoing unlawful use of illegal fireworks in Oakland and neighboring cities is a serious concern for the Oakland Fire Department, residents, and our partner agencies in the region,” said Oakland Fire Chief Reginald Freeman. “Fireworks are illegal in Oakland, and the life safety risks and fire danger associated with using them are significant. We encourage all residents and visitors to think of the safety of themselves and our community when enjoying the Independence Day holiday. Your actions can save lives.”

In anticipation of an uptick in the use of fireworks in the coming weeks, the Fire Department’s Emergency Management Division will activate the Emergency Operations Center on July 4 to monitor citywide activity and emergency incidents.

In an effort to get illegal fireworks out of residential neighbors and prevent wildfires, the Oakland Fire Department has set up safe collection barrels at the following fire stations.

• Station 1: 1603 Martin Luther King Jr. Way
• Station 3: 1445 14th Street
• Station 4: 1235 International Boulevard
• Station 5: 934 34th Street
• Station 18: 5008 Bancroft Avenue
• Station 20: 1401 98th Avenue

The collection sites are for residents that want to surrender unused fireworks and also for OPD to drop off confiscated fireworks.

The Oakland police and fire departments filmed to a Public Service Announcement about the risks of fireworks and celebratory gunfire. Watch: https://vimeo.com/434779851.

Community Tips & Regional Partnership Leads to Confiscation of Fireworks: In May and June, the Oakland Police Department participated in two successful operations where arrests were made, and fireworks were seized and confiscated (see attached OPD press release). Locally, those caught with illegal fireworks can be cited and/or fined up to $10,000, plus imprisonment. To report sales or persons with large cache of fireworks call the Fireworks Tip Line at (510) 238-2373 or OPD Non-emergency number at (510) 777-3333. 

Road Closures in the High Fire Hazard Severity Zone: The Fire and Police departments continue to work in partnership with neighboring jurisdictions on actions to mitigate fire risk in the Very High Fire Severity Zone and throughout the city during the July 4^th holiday.

In response to significant regional concerns about fire safety and emergency vehicle access, Grizzly Peak Blvd between Skyline and Centennial Dr. will be closed to all thru automobile traffic along the following roads from 5:00am July 4th through 5:00am July 5^th. Additionally, the following intersections will have electronic signage and personnel on hand to prevent thru traffic from entering:

• Grizzly Peak / Centennial Dr
• Grizzly Peak/ S Park Dr
• Grizzly Peak/ Lomas Cantada
• Grizzly Peak/ Claremont
• Grizzly Peak/ Skyline

The City of Oakland is coordinating with the City of Berkeley, East Bay Regional Parks, UC Berkeley, Moraga/Orinda Fire, Alameda County, Cal Fire, and Caltrans regarding the closure.

‘Tis the Season: The Oakland Fire Operations Division transitioned to Enhanced Wildfire Responseon May 3 this year due to the higher temperatures and extremely dry vegetation; approximately 10 days earlier than in 2020. This year is forecasted to be equally as bad as 2020 due to decreased precipitation this past winter and expected record setting temperatures.

A page on the City website has been created and we will be adding information on an ongoing basis related to promoting safety and preventing the illegal use of fireworks. 

More Eyes & Ears on the Street: On July 3-4, OFD engine companies will do roving patrols in the neighborhoods around their stations, reporting illegal firework locations to Fire Dispatch (which relays the information to OPD dispatch). Additionally:

• OFD will deploy extra staff and vehicles at Lake Merritt on July 4 in anticipation of large holiday weekend crowds.
• OFD will deploy two additional specialty wildland apparatus on July 4th, and additional command staff.
• OFD’s Fire Prevention Bureau will deploy additional inspectors on July 3-4th to monitor firework hot spots and report from the field on illegal firework activity.

Inspection Time: Oakland Fire’s Annual Inspections of residential properties and city-owned parcels in the high fire hazard severity zone began in early June and will continue through the summer months until all parcels have been checked. Properties that are found to be non-compliant are re-inspected after 45 days from the first inspection. For a list of the compliance standards that Fire Inspectors and Engine Companies are checking for during vegetation inspection, visit this webpage. So far in 2021, approximately 9000 parcels have had an annual vegetation management inspection completed.

Have You HERD about the Goats?: The Fire Department annually deploys one of the largest goat herds in the state. Each year goats prove to be an valuable and cost effective fire prevention tool to remove dry vegetation in the hillsides across the city. Already this year, goats have cleared approximately 700 acres (See attached for the 2021 Goat Grazing Schedule). If you’re wondering what 3000 goats doing fire prevention work in Oakland hills sounds like, the wait is over: https://twitter.com/OaklandFireCA/status/1392932854057689088.

Vegetation and Fuels Management: The Fire Prevention Bureau contracts with a number of vendors this time of year to mitigate hazardous vegetation on city owned property and along roadways. In 2021 alone, contractors have done roadside clearing along 44 miles of roadway, and have already removed over 160 acres of dangerous vegetation.

Fire crews have also spent considerable time this year clearing and doing maintenance on our many fire trails to ensure fire crews and other first responders can safely and efficiently access hard to reach locations during emergencies.

Know Your Zone: On June 15, the City of Oakland and a countywide taskforce made up of fire, police and emergency management agencies, jointly announced the launch of the “Know your Zone”campaign to help residents and businesses be better prepared for the next evacuation or emergency, through an online platform called Zonehaven™.

The Zonehaven™ platform is designed to provide first responders and the public with simple, consistent, and immediate evacuation information. The new platform allows each agency to make decisions on when to evacuate and which zones to evacuate all while monitoring critical evacuation route traffic in real-time. Additionally, the platform is available in real-time for the public to see if their zone is being evacuated.

All Alameda County residents now live in a zone identified by a number. Businesses are located in zones, as well. Residents should record their zone number and review zone details before the next emergency to be better informed and able to quickly map their best path to safety. “Know Your Zone” helps residents clearly understand the areas under evacuation and allows them to follow incident progress for their zone.

Read more about Zonehaven here.