Title
Informational Update on the Oakland-Alameda Estuary Bridge Project. CEQA Determination: Consideration of informational items is not a project under Public Resources Code section 21065 and CEQA Guidelines section 15378
Body
To: Honorable President and Members of the Planning Board
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City of Alameda (City), in close partnership with the City of Oakland, is moving forward with the next phase of planning and design work for the Oakland Alameda Estuary Bridge (Bridge), called a Project Initiation Document (PID). This new bicycle and pedestrian connection is over 15 years in the making. Once fully designed, funded and constructed, the Bridge will provide an alternative to the substandard and deficient Posey Tube path and connect west Alameda and Jack London Square, Amtrak, Downtown Oakland, two nearby Oakland BART stations and many more destinations (see Fact Sheet in Exhibit 1). The planned Bridge will be free crossing, above ground, anticipated to have over 5,000 crossings a day, and is expected to eliminate 40,000 motor vehicle trips that traverse through equity priority communities in Oakland.
No action is required of the Planning Board at this time. This report is for information purposes only.
BACKGROUND
In 2009, the City developed a comprehensive Estuary Crossing Final Feasibility Study Report to analyze and evaluate all of the potential strategies for crossing the Oakland Estuary (Estuary) either by foot, bike, or transit. This planning effort was the first to directly analyze the feasibility of new or improved Estuary crossings, with the goal of developing crossing options that would appeal to users, adjacent communities, decision-makers, transit providers and funding authorities. Seventeen (17) different crossing options were studied, including a gondola, different bridge types, Posey/Webster Tubes enhancements, water shuttle services and a new transit tube. Solutions for the near-, mid-, and long-term were explored. The top recommended, long-term option was determined to be a movable bicycle-pedestrian bridge.
In 2016, the City Council (Council) directed that staff begin working on the Bridge project and consider hiring a maritime engineer to further study the project feasibility.
In 2018, the Council adopted the Transportation Choices Plan with the “West End Bicycle/Pedestrian Crossing” (Project #39), which included the near-term action to “fund a project study report to determine the specifics and feasibility of an additional crossing” and to meet and coordinate with the United States Coast Guard (USCG).
In 2019, the Alameda County Transportation Commission (Alameda CTC) allocated over $300,000 to conduct a detailed feasibility study of the proposed lift-bridge, plus the water shuttle and a transit tube, and the potential demand for different crossing options. The Estuary Crossing Study: Detailed Feasibility and Travel Demand Analysis was completed in early 2021. It confirmed that a lift bridge meeting the Coast Guard requirements (to have a 600-foot span between piers that can be raised to 175 feet), is technically feasible from an engineering and geotechnical perspective. The travel demand model showed that, depending on its location, 5,000 to 6,000 bicyclist and pedestrian trips would cross the bridge each weekday, resulting in over 40,000 fewer auto trips across the estuary per week. The total cost to design, engineer and build the Bridge was projected to be just under $200 million (in 2030 dollars), with annual costs to operate and maintain the Bridge project to be approximately $3.5 million. With confirmation of feasibility, including letters of support from USCG and the Port of Oakland (Port), the City began seeking funding for the PID.
In 2020, Alameda CTC added the project to the 2020 Countywide Transportation Plan’s 10-Year Priority Projects and Programs List, and in early 2021, the Alameda CTC voted to allocate $1,555,000 in funding for the PID to the City, with no required local match funding. In mid-2021, the Council authorized staff to enter into a funding agreement with Alameda CTC for the project and in mid-2022 the Council approved consultant contracts for completion of the PID.
As of early 2023, the bridge project is included in many planning documents at the local, countywide, and regional level, including those of the City of Oakland, Alameda CTC, Caltrans District 4 and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). It is one of the top three scoring corridors in the Caltrans Bay Area Bike Highway Study (2022).
The various feasibility reports noted above can be found on the project website: www.estuarybridge.org <http://www.estuarybridge.org>.
DISCUSSION
In June 2022, the Council authorized the City to hire two consultant teams to support the development of a Project Initiation Document (PID) for the Bridge project, utilizing the $1.555 million in grant funding from Alameda CTC. The PID provides the technical foundation for the next phases of the bridge design and implementation process. The PID cannot select an ultimate alignment and will not determine the final design of the bridge. The purpose is to establish the project development support cost for the next phase, that the project is technically feasible, and to develop enough specificity to determine upper-end planning level cost estimates, technical and environmental study needs, right of way needs, a schedule, the need and purpose, and to start gathering community input. Much more design work and community and stakeholder engagement will continue through the next phase, which is the Project Approval and Environmental Document phase (PAED).
The City is also using this opportunity, as the PID proceeds, to lay the groundwork for success, so that the project will continue to move forward, by engaging with as many stakeholders and agency staff as possible. The goals are to ensure that the project will have political and community support, to identify a designated agency to lead the project’s next phase (PAED), to fund that phase and to ensure that the community input is heard and incorporated into the project.
To date, the following actions have occurred:
• Defined a draft Purpose and Need statement (Exhibit 2)
• Established the Study Area (included in Exhibit 3)
• Established the three corridors for further study, these being the least-constrained corridors in the Study Area (included in Exhibit 3)
• Established robust stakeholder input that has provided input on the project and the items listed above:
o Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) that has met 3 times
o Stakeholder and Equity Advisory Committees (SAC/EAC) that have met 2 times
o Presentations, agendas and notes from these meetings are posted on the project web page, and a list of invitees is included in Exhibit 3.
• Developed a new project web page, that is separate from the City of Alameda’s website, since the project is not just for Alameda (www.estuarybridge.org <http://www.estuarybridge.org>)
• Developed a new project Fact Sheet (Exhibit 1)
• The Mayor and City staff have met with the Caltrans District 4 Director and her staff several times to discuss their involvement in the PID, the possibility of them leading the CEQA/NEPA work, and the possibility of them constructing, owning and operating the bridge.
• City staff have met with Alameda CTC and MTC staff to discuss the possibility of them being the sponsor agency for future project phases.
• City staff and consultants have met with regulatory agency staff, including the USCG and the California Public Utilities Commission, and reached out to marine operators such as the San Francisco Bar Pilots.
• City staff and consultants have made presentations to multiple groups, including the Bay Trail Steering Committee, the BART Bicycle Advisory Task Force and the Caltrans District 4 Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committees.
• City staff presented an update to the City’s Transportation Commission in March 2023.
In the coming months, the following activities will occur, with a draft PID to be publicly released before the end of the year, and finalized by early 2024:
• Establish the “footprints” of the three corridors on land and water.
• Evaluate the pros and cons of different bridge heights, bridge types, ramping grades and lengths and landing locations.
• Develop realistic alternative crossing options within the three corridors.
• Determine evaluation criteria for comparing these alternatives.
• For purposes of the PID, select 1-2 alternatives in each of the three corridors to be studied as a realistic (but not final) design.
• Evaluate the engineering and environmental needs of each of these alternatives in detail.
• Prepare a preliminary environmental document.
• Continue to meet with TAC, SAC/EAC and stakeholders and regulatory agencies for input as the PID is developed.
• Solicit community input from people in Alameda, Oakland and beyond on the bridge project through in person and virtual events, and online surveys.
Additional project information can be found in the attached presentation for the Planning Board, and on the project web page, which includes background information, a community survey, FAQs and the Advisory Committee presentations and minutes: www.estuarybridge.org <http://www.estuarybridge.org>.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
The Bridge project is consistent with the General Plan (2021) and makes progress towards meeting all four of the goals in the Mobility Element, which are Equity, Safety, Choices and Sustainability. Furthermore, the General Plan Mobility Element Policy ME-15 Action (b) states: “West Alameda to Oakland Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge. Prioritize work with Oakland, Caltrans, the Alameda County Transportation Commission, the State of California, the US Coast Guard, and other relevant agencies to design, fund, construct and operate a bicycle and pedestrian bridge from West Alameda to Oakland in order to increase bicycle and pedestrian access across the estuary.”
The Active Transportation Plan (2022) includes the “Oakland-Alameda Bicycle-Pedestrian Bridge” in the 2030 Infrastructure Plan (Project #8) for completing the PID and identifying a Lead Agency for all future phases by 2024.
The Transportation Choices Plan (2018) includes the “West End Bicycle/Pedestrian Crossing” (Project #39) which included the near-term action to “fund a project study report to determine the specifics and feasibility of an additional crossing” and to meet and coordinate with the USCG.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Consideration of informational items is not a project under Public Resources Code section 21065 and CEQA Guidelines section 15378.
CLIMATE IMPACT
Supporting bicycling and walking will help the City meet its goals to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by supporting mode shift away from automobiles. The City’s 2019 Climate Action and Resiliency Plan found that transportation accounts for 70% of the City’s GHG emissions, and that moving people out of automobiles is paramount to reducing transportation-related emissions.
Alameda CTC studies show that the Bridge, if constructed, would result in approximately 40,000 fewer auto trips across the estuary per week, which would result in a significant decrease in greenhouse gas emissions.
RECOMMENDATION
No action is required at this time. This report is for information purposes.
Respectfully submitted,
Andrew Thomas, Planning, Building, and Transportation Director
By,
Rochelle Wheeler, Senior Transportation Coordinator
Exhibits:
1. Project Fact Sheet
2. Draft Project Purpose and Need Statement
3. Presentation to Planning Board