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Recommendation to Consider Providing Direction for the Commercial Streets Program to Improve the Park Street and Webster Street Striping Plans; Extend the On-Street Parklet Program; and Maintain the Alameda Avenue Street Closure. (Public Works 31041520)
In accordance with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), this action is categorically exempt from further environmental review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15301 (Existing Facilities), 15303 (New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures), 15304 (Minor Temporary Use of Land), and 15305 (Minor Alterations to Land Use Limitations).
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To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jennifer Ott, City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City of Alameda’s (City) Commercial Streets Program was established as part of the City’s multi-pronged response to the Covid-19 pandemic’s dramatic and immediate negative impacts on the local business community. Portions of Park Street and Webster Streets were re-purposed to allow local merchants to use sidewalk and roadway space for parklets. The program was further established by City Council in November 2021 to extend the program for two years, including issuing encroachment agreements and maintaining the Alameda Avenue one-block street closure off of Park Street. The current encroachment agreements have a termination date of November 3, 2023. Staff is seeking direction regarding the future of the parklet program.
Staff recommendation includes restriping portions of Park Street and Webster Street to include bicycle lanes, updating parklet guidelines to require parklets to fit within the proposed parking lane widths, completing the purchase and installation of concrete barricades, extending the term of the parklet agreements (including requirements for insurance and annual inspection fees), and maintaining the Alameda Avenue Street closure.
BACKGROUND
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the City restriped portions of Park Street and Webster Street to re-purpose some sidewalk and roadway space for parklets and outdoor spaces for use by local merchants. Called the “Commercial Streets Program,” it was an important part of the City’s multi-pronged response to the pandemic’s dramatic and immediate negative impacts on the local business community.
The Commercial Streets program was established as a temporary program in 2020. In late 2021, staff evaluated the program and then brought recommendations to City Council on November 2, 2021, to continue the program for two additional years, to November 3, 2023. The recommendations included improving the Park Street and Webster Street striping plans and approving the concrete traffic control barricade standards to be placed around the parklets. It also included updating the parklet permit program and issuing encroachment agreements to November 3, 2023; maintaining the Alameda Avenue one-block street closure off of Park Street; and resuming pre-COVID parking management, fee collection, and enforcement activities, all of which have happened. Finally, City Council allocated $630,350 in American Rescue Plan Act funds for these efforts.
Insurance and fees
The encroachment agreements require parklet owners to carry commercial general liability insurance in an amount no less than:
1. Two Million Dollars ($2,000,000) combined, single limit personal injury and property damage for each occurrence, and Four Million Dollars ($4,000,000) aggregate.
Or (if within 50 feet of an intersection)
2. Five Million Dollars ($2,000,000) combined, single limit personal injury and property damage for each occurrence, and Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000) aggregate.
A fee of $2,400 was assessed for each parklet agreement to cover staff costs associated with processing the agreements and inspecting parklet construction to meet the City’s guidelines. The City collected $55,200 in fee revenue in 2022 for 23 parklets.
Concrete Barricades
In November 2021, City Council also adopted Resolution 15832, Approving Precast Concrete Traffic Control Safety Barricade Standards for Parklets. To date, the concrete barricades have not been purchased and installed, and the parklets are largely protected with water-filled barricades. The barricade purchase was delayed due to uncertainties with the number of parklets that would remain in the program and meet the insurance and construction requirements, and challenges with the existing striping configuration.
Staff is developing a request for proposals to purchase the approved barricades. If City Council directs staff to extend the Commercial Streets Program, staff anticipates returning to City Council to approve an agreement to purchase the barricades in September 2023 and install the barricades after Park and Webster are restriped in Fall 2023
DISCUSSION
Currently, Park Street from Lincoln Avenue to San Jose Avenue and Webster Street from Lincoln Avenue to Central Avenue is striped for one travel lane, a parking lane, and a parklet “lane” on each side of the street. Each parklet lane is located immediately adjacent to the curb and sidewalk and the parking lane floats between the parklet lane and the travel lane. Approximately 19 businesses have parklets in the Park Street Commercial District and three businesses have parklets in the Webster Street Commercial District. In addition, a portion of Alameda Avenue west of Park Street is blocked from vehicle traffic to create a pedestrian plaza, outdoor seating area and bike parking area. The street maintains clearance for emergency vehicle access and is open to vehicles between Oak Street and the public parking lot.
After discussions with the business community and observations of the existing conditions on Park Street and Webster Street, the staff is recommending a new restriping plan (Exhibits 1 and 2), which is designed to implement the following five recommendations regarding the Commercial Streets program.
1) Maintain the parklet program with modifications. Staff recommends maintaining the ability for merchants, including those on Park and Webster Streets, to apply for and hold encroachment agreements for parklets in front of their businesses. The parklet program continues to benefit several merchants and the parklets enrich the commercial environments on Park Street and Webster Street. Per the 2021 City Council direction, all existing conforming and permitted parklets will be protected by decorative concrete barriers provided by the City. Staff also recommends modifying the program to limit the width of a parklet plus the (two-foot wide) barrier to the width of the parking lane adjacent to the curb (typically 8 to 9 feet). To comply with these new width requirements, several existing parklets will need to be modified in size, including but not limited to Burma Superstar, Daisy’s, and Café Jolie. These businesses have been notified of this.
In coordination with the recommended striping plans, City staff will continue to review and develop recommendations for updating the City’s parklet design guidelines, encroachment agreements, and associated fees for continuing the parklet program. A two-year term for parklets with a fee of $2,400 per parklet is currently recommended to cover staff costs while reserving the right to charge additional fees if repeated inspections are needed to resolve ongoing issues at specific parklets.
Staff considered a proposal to charge businesses an additional annual license fee for the use of the public property, but ultimately decided not to recommend such a fee because staff believes that the parklets are a benefit to the vitality of the entire business district and not just the individual business. This fee approach is consistent with the way we currently manage other sidewalk dining encroachments that promote economic development.
The original parklets constructed before 2022 used a variety of materials and configurations. After the Commercial Street program was extended in 2021, the City’s parklet guidelines were updated to clarify expectations and address issues such as drainage along the curb. Several parklet owners reconstructed or modified their parklets in 2022 and 2023 under these guidelines. The new parklets are generally of high quality, with a consistent design, adequate drainage, and good access from the sidewalk. Several older parklets will be modified to conform to the new guidelines or be removed. Examples include: Café’ Jolie, Daisy’s, and Spinning Bones. At least two existing parklets will be removed at Rise and at Twirl, both on Park Street. Per the current agreements, the City can require parklet owners to remove parklets at the owner’s expense with 30 days’ written notice, or immediately with written notice if needed to preserve public health, safety, and or welfare. Finally, the removal of the water filled white plastic barricades with uniform decorative concrete barricades will further improve the aesthetics on Park and Webster Streets.
2) Maintain the two travel lanes for automobiles and buses. Staff recommends maintaining the existing two-lane with left turn pockets configuration for vehicle travel. Staff does not recommend restriping the streets back to the pre-COVID four-lane configuration.
The two-lane configuration has improved the commercial environment on Park Street and Webster Street and is generally favored by the business community. It has calmed traffic speeds and quieted traffic noise on Park Street and Webster Street, which makes these streets more pleasant and safer for pedestrians, shoppers, diners, and visitors to Alameda’s two main commercial streets. Staff conducted a community survey and before-and-after traffic study in 2021, and presented the data to City Council in November 2021 <https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5191840&GUID=FEB7AF36-2F32-4E57-A274-6E76DF3B0299>. In the 2021 community survey for Park Street and Webster Street, about 40% of respondents stated that they support the two-travel lane configuration as is and about 35% supported two travel lanes with bike facilities added. In the same survey, about 33% of the respondents wanted to return to the 4-lane configuration, and about one-third of respondents reported avoiding Park and/or Webster to get around town.
Returning to four lanes would likely make the parklet program untenable. With four lanes the parking lane must be reduced to 7 feet. (The City’s 2020 Policy on Street Width, Lane Width, and Crosswalks only supports this narrow width if accommodating bicycle or transit facilities.) With a concrete barrier, a parklet in a parking lane would need to be reduced to approximately 5 feet in width, and diners in these parklets would be seated next to four lanes of traffic.
The 2021 before-and-after traffic study found that speeds were generally lower on Park Street and Webster Street after the reduction to two travel lanes. A review of volumes on the parallel streets that might be experiencing increases in volumes as the result of diversion from Park and Webster Streets indicates that there may be some diversion, in some directions, at certain times of day, though overall it was not found to be significant at the time. During 2022, traffic signal timings were updated to improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety along the Park Street and Webster Street corridors. Balancing the demands for Park Street, Webster Street, and parallel routes will require regular monitoring and periodic updates.
City staff is developing an evaluation and public outreach plan to continue measuring traffic patterns and collecting public feedback. Particular issues include pedestrian and bicycle safety, impacts to side streets and parallel routes, congestion for transit and through traffic, parking availability, enforcement, stormwater runoff, and aesthetics.
3) Move the parking lane back to the edge of the curb. Staff recommends moving the on-street parking spaces back to the pre-COVID location adjacent to the curb and parking meters. The temporary COVID striping with parking offset from the curb has been confusing for visitors, difficult to enforce, and challenging to maintain due to the reliance on easily-damaged plastic bollards to define parking space locations. Moving the parking back to the curbside creates more space for emergency vehicles and buses within the travel way.
As part of the re-striping, staff will work with the Business Districts to identify locations for dedicated parking spaces for people with disabilities and additional short-term parking zones to accommodate the increased reliance on delivery drivers. Short-term parking zones will help reduce double parking, which causes safety hazards, slows transit and auto traffic, and would block the proposed bike lane. Parking at the curb (with additional curb paint and signage) is also expected to help with parking enforcement, as it will clarify where parking is and is not allowed.
Please note that the recommended restriping will accommodate parklets (with modifications as needed). If parklets are removed, the area can be replaced with on-street parking in most cases.
4) Add striped bicycle lanes between the parking lane and the travel lane. With the parking moved back to the curb and retention of the two travel lane configuration, there is extra space to use, and therefore, staff recommends adding a striped bicycle lane between the travel lane and the parking/parklet lane. If this extra roadway space was not used for bicycle lanes, it would very likely be regularly and illegally used for double parking or passing. Although a striped bicycle lane does not provide a low-stress bicycle facility for the Park Street or Webster Street corridors, as recommended in the Active Transportation Plan, the Plan did anticipate a phased approach to providing bicycle facilities for these corridors. Accommodating people biking on Park Street and Webster Street with striped bicycle lanes affirms the City’s commitment to complete streets and supporting all modes of transportation on these important community commercial corridors while simultaneously planning for the longer-term solution of low-stress facilities, as recommended in the Active Transportation Plan.
5) Maintain the Alameda Avenue Street Closure. The Alameda Avenue plaza serves as a unique community gathering space for people to walk, bike, eat to-go food and gather informally. An open, 20-foot wide emergency access lane is maintained through the closed half block. The Downtown Alameda Business Association (DABA) manages this space, purchased the tables, tents and other amenities, and pays for regular cleanings and patrols of the area. DABA is interested in continuing to manage the space, and the proposed striping plans can accommodate the continuation of the plaza.
Alameda Transportation Commission Recommendations
The Transportation Commission considered the recommended striping plans on May 24, 2023. The Commission endorsed the conceptual striping plans, with direction to:
• Develop a plan for continued data collection and public outreach;
• Include additional curb management (including parking pricing, short-term parking, and No Parking areas);
• Include additional green areas in bike lanes to discourage parking in the bike lanes and bike boxes to help guide cyclists making turns at intersections; and
• Review locations of designated ADA/accessible parking spaces.
These striping and parking items will be refined during the development of the final striping plans, and data collection and outreach will be ongoing with the Commercial Streets program.
Next Steps and Anticipated Timeline
• Current activities
o City staff is coordinating with and meeting with parklet owners that will need to modify their parklets to fit within the proposed parking lane widths. In addition, staff will communicate with parklet owners with outstanding issues for construction (per Public Works) and/or encroachment agreement (per City Attorney) to reach compliance.
o Staff is developing a request for proposals to purchase the approved barricades. If City Council directs staff to extend the Commercial Streets Program, staff anticipates returning to City Council to approve an agreement to purchase the barricades in September 2023 and install the barricades after Park and Webster are restriped in Fall 2023.
• Summer 2023
o Develop color curb zone locations (loading zones, accessible parking, new red zones) and issue public notices.
o Complete final striping plans for Park Street and Webster Street.
o Advertise bids for striping work.
o Send notices to parklet owners that have not reached compliance to remove their parklets.
• Fall 2023
o Request City Council approval for barricade purchase and/or striping contract (as needed); and to establish the term for extending the program and associated requirements and fees.
o Develop and execute new agreements for parklets that will continue past November 2023, including insurance and fees.
o Implement final striping & barricade placement.
ALTERNATIVES
• Direct staff to further develop and implement the proposed restriping of Park Street and Webster Street, update parklet guidelines to require parklets to fit within the proposed parking lane widths, complete the purchase and installation of concrete barricades, extend the term of the parklet agreements (including requirements for insurance and annual inspection fees), and maintain the Alameda Avenue Street closure consistent with the above staff recommendation.
• Direct staff to further develop and implement the proposed restriping of Park Street and Webster Street and end the parklet program and the Alameda Avenue Street Closure in November 2023.
• Direct staff to end the parklet program and the Alameda Avenue Street Closure in November 2023, and develop plans to restripe Park Street and Webster Street in a different configuration.
• Direct staff to return with additional information.
• Take no action. The existing parklet agreements and the Alameda Avenue Street Closure will expire in November 2023 and the existing striping will remain until Staff develop a new recommendation.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no financial impact to the City from considering options for extending the Commercial Streets Program. However, the associated physical improvements may require financial contributions from the City that would be subject to future City Council approval. The City would also collect fees through the parklet agreements if the Commercial Streets Program is extended.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
General Plan policies support complete streets, which are designed for all modes of transportation, and General Plan policies support decisions in support of local business and the economic vitality of the Mixed Use Community Commercial corridors. General Plan policies LU-3 Complete Streets, ME-10 Movement Action A. Complete Streets and policy LU-10 Park Street and Webster Street. The recommended striping plan also conforms to the Policy on Street Width, Lane Width, Crosswalks, and Bulb-outs (Resolution 15648) and the Policy for Improvements to Visibility (Daylighting).
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
In accordance with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), this action is categorically exempt from further environmental review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15301 (Existing Facilities), 15303 (New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures), 15304 (Minor Temporary Use of Land), and 15305 (Minor Alterations to Land Use Limitations).
CLIMATE IMPACT
Adding bicycle lanes to an existing street supports a non-carbon emitting mode of transportation which reduces greenhouse gas emissions from the city’s transportation sector. Transportation generates over 70% of the greenhouse emissions in Alameda. Creating streets focused on people, rather than cars, encourages these modes of transportation, can reduce emissions from people driving to their destinations, and help the community develop lifelong habits of walking, bicycling, and taking transit.
RECOMMENDATION
Provide direction for the Commercial Streets Program to improve the Park Street and Webster Street Striping Plans; extend the on-street parklet program; and maintain the Alameda Avenue Street Closure.
Respectfully submitted,
Erin Smith, Public Works Director
By,
Robert Vance, Public Works Deputy Director
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Margaret O’Brien, Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. Draft Recommended Striping Plans for Webster Street Commercial Corridor
2. Draft Recommended Striping Plans for Park Street Commercial Corridor