Landscape Design Next on Agenda
Not quite two years ago, the Grand Lake Traffic Calming Committee went public with its proposals for pedestrian safety improvements on Lakeshore Avenue at Lake Park and at MacArthur via an article in the Grand Lake Guardian. The City of Oakland’s traffic engineers, with additional input from AC Transit, used the GLTCC recommendations as the starting point for plans that culminated in a major grant from ACTIA. With additional funding from AC Transit, Measure DD and discretionary funding from Councilmembers Pat Kernighan and Ignacio De La Fuente, a total of $1.2 million is budgeted for a project that is on schedule to begin construction late next year.
The Lakeshore Complete Streets Project, as its now called, consists of three basic elements as shown in these plans.
This is how the Traffic Engineering Department describes the intended benefits:
The Lakeshore Complete Streets project improves pedestrian safety in the Lakeshore Avenue / Lake Park Avenue vicinity. The proposed roadway reconfiguration will result in additional pedestrian space and the opportunity to enhance the northeast corner of the Lakeshore / Lake Park intersection.
The next step in the planning process is to formulate a landscape design that will include plants, street furniture and other amenities. To this end, the city has contracted with Sasaki Associates to provide landscape design services.
The community will have an opportunity to hear about various landscape design options and provide input on January 7 as Grand Lake Neighbors (in conjunction with Jerry Cauthen’s Traffic Calming Committee) hosts a 7 p.m. community meeting in the Family Room at Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church.
In advance of the January 7 meeting, Joanna Fong, the Landscape Architect assigned to this project, has invited email comments from members of the Grand Lake community that will help her shape her initial, public presentation. Your comments should be focused on answering these specific questions:
Please email your comments by Monday, December 14 to Joanne Karchmer at jkarchmer@oaklandnet.com.
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