Title
Review and Discuss the 2025 Pavement Rehabilitation Project, Including Design Updates on Aughinbaugh Way, Mecartney Road, and Maitland Drive (Discussion)
Body
To: Honorable Chair and Members of the Transportation Commission
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff will present the 2025 Pavement Rehabilitation, Phase 43 Project. The presentation will generally show the streets selected for maintenance and rehabilitation and highlight the planned striping and configuration modifications for Aughinbaugh Way, Mecartney Road, and Maitland Drive. Staff seeks Transportation Commission feedback on the proposed striping and configuration changes.
BACKGROUND
The City of Alameda (City) has 128 centerline miles of public roadway providing access to all properties and businesses on the island. Maintaining the roadway network is central to the livability and economic vitality of the island. In addition, with a replacement value exceeding $440,000,000, Alameda’s roadway network is one of the City’s most valuable assets. The City’s streets are considered in fair to good condition; however, the Pavement Condition Index (PCI) has fallen from 72 in 2018 to it’s current value of 68 (PCI above 70, good condition, PCI below 70 fair condition). Years of underinvestment in the paving program have created a deferred maintenance backlog of over $50,000,000.
The City’s pavement management program consists of a mixture of preventive maintenance with slurry and cape seal projects and rehabilitation with overlays and reconstruction projects. As part of Public Works three-year paving plan, the City has been divided into thirds and projects will rotate throughout the City. The 2025 Pavement Rehabilitation, Phase 43 Project will focus on the eastern third of the island, east of High Street and on Bay Farm Island (see attached Exhibit 1).
At the Transportation Commission meeting on September 25, 2024, staff provided an informational presentation about the City’s pavement management program, including how streets are selected, considerations for pavement treatment types, and the current status of Alameda roadways. The presentation and discussion can be viewed on the meeting video at hour 1:29: <https://alameda.granicus.com/player/clip/3447?view_id=6&redirect=true>.
DISCUSSION
This year’s Phase 43 Project will maintain and rehabilitate approximately 10.5 miles of roadway as shown in Exhibit 1 with an additional 1.5 miles of shared use trail along Island Drive and Mecartney Road. Many of the streets within Bay Farm Island were constructed in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s and are in relatively good condition with little to no subgrade failures. Street selection was based on the “right treatment on the right street at the right time” philosophy, seeking maximize the return on our limited available funding. Accordingly, the majority of the 10.5 miles will consist of either a slurry seal or rubberized cape seal, a lower cost maintenance treatment to prolong the pavement life. These preventive maintenance surface seals extend the life of the pavement by sealing the roadway and protecting from damaging water infiltration and further deterioration from weathering/raveling and other environmental related distresses. The “right treatment on the right street at the right time” reinforces the principle that it costs less to maintain streets in good condition than it does to allow them to fall into disrepair requiring much more costly pavement treatments.
Following street selection, staff reviews the High Injury Corridor Maps in the Vision Zero Action Plan, and the Active Transportation Plan for pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicular improvements based on street type. Aughinbaugh Way, Mecartney Road, and Maitland Drive have been identified for additional enhancements to reduce vehicle speeds and enhance multi-modal safety. Treatment options for pavement rehabilitation projects are typically limited to signing, striping, and configuration improvements to manage overall project cost. Substantial concrete work, curb realignment, and drainage improvements exponentially increase the project cost are usually not incorporated into annual pavement projects. Given those limitations, staff has reviewed multiple options and has identified preferred striping and configuration treatment measures for each corridor. Improvements for each corridor are described in the subsections below:
Aughinbaugh Way
Aughinbaugh Way is classified as a Neighborhood Connector street and provides connections between neighborhoods and provides access to Tillman Park, Bay Farm Elementary School, and trails along Shoreline Park. The existing roadway is approximately 40 feet wide and consists of two 12-foot-wide travel lanes and buffered bike lanes. There are no residential driveways on Aughinbaugh and no parking is allowed except immediately in front of the school. The Active Transportation Plan identifies Aughinbaugh for a separated bike lane which is separated from vehicular traffic and the sidewalk by a vertical element in addition to a horizontal separation.
Many students who attend Bay Farm Elementary arrive on foot or by bicycle. City staff and consultant team met with the Bay Farm Elementary principal and members of the parent teacher association in December during the morning drop off to observe the activities and understand parent and school concerns about the existing traffic conditions. Primary considerations include vehicles stopping / parking in the bike lane to drop off or pick up students, visibility of students crossing at the Sheffield Road intersection, tight access on the western sidewalk between Robert Davey Jr. Drive and the school entrance, and the right turn movement from Kofman Parkway onto Aughinbaugh Way.
The proposed improvements include:
• Lane Configuration: Manage speeds by reducing the vehicle lane width to 11 or 10 feet and increase the bike lane buffer width from 2 feet to 3 feet or 4 feet.
• Separated Bike Lane: Create a low-stress, all-ages bicycle facility by installing vertical delineators within the buffer to separate the vehicular traffic from the 6-foot-wide bike lane. The delineator spacing will be reduced between Robert Davey Jr. and Sheffield Road along the school frontage where vehicle drivers more commonly stop in the bike lane. Create a parking-separated bike lane in front of the school to minimize conflicts between cyclists and vehicles maneuvering to park.
• Pedestrian Safety: Consider adding rectangular flashing beacons on the southern crosswalk at Sheffield Way. Currently only Sheffield Way has a stop sign at this T-intersection and traffic volumes would not meet warrants for a three-way stop.
• Bicycle and Pedestrian School Access: Widen the western sidewalk to 10 feet between Robert Davey Jr. and the southern school entrance. Bike parking for the older students is located off the bike path north of Tillman Park. The wider sidewalk will ease congestion in the area and allow students with bikes to cross at the intersection with Robert Davey Jr. Drive.
• Intersection Safety: Construct a paint and post bulb-out and eliminate the right turn pocket from Kofman Drive. There were numerous complaints about right turning vehicles at this location with vehicles routinely stopping in the crosswalk and well ahead of the limit line. The bulb-out striping and delineator posts will improve vehicular visibility, tighten the turning radius, and shorten the crossing distance for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Mecartney Road
Mecartney Road is a Neighborhood Connector and is one of the primary east-west corridors on Bay Farm Island. Traffic volumes are generally higher west of Island Drive with substantial turning movements occurring at this intersection. The existing roadway has a median island separating the eastbound and westbound traffic between Aughinbaugh Way and Island Drive and generous lane widths. Few residential driveways front directly onto Mecartney and on-street parking demand was observed to be low to moderate. The portion between Fontana Drive and Island Drive is a four-lane roadway. Bike lanes are present from Adelphian Way and Island Drive. Additionally, an 8-foot-wide shared use pathway connects from Aughinbaugh Way to Island Drive, providing a low stress alternative for cyclists. Portions of Mecartney Road between Maitland Road and County Road are not improved and do not have curb and gutter or sidewalk. It is outside the scope of the pavement rehabilitation project to complete gap closure work.
The paving limits for Mecartney Road extend from Aughinbaugh Way to the five-way intersection with Melrose Avenue and Maitland Drive. The Active Transportation Plan calls for the extension of the existing bike lanes eastward to Melrose / Maitland intersection. The City previously studied a roundabout at the intersection of Mecartney and Island Drive. Public response to the roundabout was mixed and the project has been put on hold. Note that although the Mecartney / Island intersection is large with substantial turning movements, it has not been identified as a high crash intersection based on collision data. Nonetheless, the current paving project will include enhancements to proactively address safety concerns as noted below.
Sadly, a fatality occurred in 2023 when a driver struck a pedestrian at the intersection of Marcuse Street and Mecartney. As part of our Fatal Crash Response program, the City will be installing rapid flashing beacons at uncontrolled crossings at the following locations: Marcuse Street, Fontana Drive, and Verdemar Drive. This work is scheduled for construction in early 2025.
In addition to the flashing beacons, the proposed improvements along this street corridor will include:
• Lane Width: Reduce the travel lane widths to 11 feet by striping adjacent to the median island and providing a buffered bike lane
• Land Configuration:
o Reduce 4-travel lane section of roadway between Fontana Drive and County Road to 2-travel lanes.
o Remove one southbound right turn lane at the Island Drive approach to Mecartney Road. Stripe a shared right turn lane and bus stop on the westbound approach to reduce confusion and establish better prioritization. Traffic analysis show that a single right turn lane is sufficient during the AM and PM peak hours.
• Bike Lanes:
o Improve bicycle movements through corridor by the installation of buffered bike lanes and striping improvements at intersections.
o Resurfacing of the shared use trail on the north side to improve useability for families, children riding to school, and generally all trail users (noting more advanced cyclists will likely use the buffered bike lanes).
o Extend the bike lanes from Island Drive to the Melrose / Mecartney intersection.
• Intersection Safety: Install a modular roundabout at the Mecartney / Melrose / Maitland intersection. A roundabout would facilitate traffic, reduce vehicle speeds, improve visibility to motorists, improve pedestrian crossings, and reduce conflict points in this five-legged intersection.
Maitland Drive
Maitland Drive, like Aughinbaugh and Mecartney, is classified as a Neighborhood Connector street serving many residential properties and providing a connection to Harbor Bay Parkway and off-island access. Maitland, however, is a much older roadway predating most of the development on Bay Farm Island and is characterized by a constrained right-of-way, a relatively narrow 36-foot width for the observed traffic volume, and residential driveways fronting on the street; parking demand is high. The Active Transportation Plan calls for a bike route with sharrows largely due to the constrained right of way.
The proposed improvements will:
• Install bike sharrows along the entire corridor.
• Potentially relocate bus stops far side of intersections to improve transit rider visibility.
• Install high visibility crosswalks consistent with ATP design criteria.
• Provide a striped shoulder area between Harbor Bay RV & Storage Driveway and Harbor Bay Parkway where space allows for a striped shoulder.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Pavement Management Program funding is appropriated as part of the biennial Capital Budget and included gas taxes, Measures B, BB, and F, and transfers from the integrated waste and sewer funds in the amount of $4,491,000. In addition, the City was awarded a $77,000 CalRecycle Rubberized Pavement Grant for our planned used of a rubberized cape seal in 2025. The CalRecycle program encourages the use of recycled, California-generated waste tires in rubberized pavement treatment projects.
We anticipate a construction cost of approximately $4,000,000 and will refine the engineer’s estimate as plans are further developed. Some components or streets may be dropped from the 2025 project if the cost estimate exceeds the available funds.
RECOMMENDATION
Review and discuss the 2025 Pavement Rehabilitation Project, including design updates on Aughinbaugh Way, Mecartney Road, and Maitland Drive.
Respectfully submitted,
Erin Smith, Public Works Director
By,
Scott Wikstrom, City Engineer
Exhibits:
1. 2025 Pavement Rehabilitation, Street Selection