Title
Recommendation to Authorize the City Manager or Designee to Install Safety and Active Transportation Improvements at Pacific Avenue and Wilma Chan Way, which Includes a Prohibition of Through Traffic Along Pacific Avenue and All Left Turns in the Intersection.
In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), this action is categorically exempt from further environmental review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15301 (Existing Facilities). (Planning, Building, and Transportation 24562743)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Gerry Beaudin, City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff recommends intersection safety improvements at Pacific Avenue and Wilma Chan Way to enhance safety for all modes of travel and connectivity for walking and biking. The project is a grant-funded improvement and component of the planned Neighborhood Greenway on Pacific Avenue. The recommended design concept (Exhibit 1) would prohibit all left turns on and off Pacific Avenue and prohibit through movements along Pacific Avenue using a median traffic diverter, as well as install a new traffic signal to support pedestrian and bicycle crossings of Wilma Chan Way. These changes are needed to create a safe and comfortable crossing for pedestrians and bicyclists at a skewed intersection with poor sightlines on this higher-speed, high-volume roadway and to address a history of broadside collisions.
On December 3, 2024, City Council adopted a resolution of support for an Alameda County Transportation Commission (Alameda CTC) grant application to fund safety and connectivity improvements at Neighborhood Greenway crossings of major streets, including Pacific Avenue at Wilma Chan Way. The grant application was successful and on September 16, 2025, City Council accepted and appropriated these funds.
City staff led a community engagement effort in Spring 2026. This included a public workshop, online survey, and direct engagement with neighbors and businesses like Grocery Outlet. Overall, there was broad support for the planned improvements. In July 2026, the Transportation Commission reviewed and endorsed the concept and recommended it to the City Council. Staff recommends that the City Council authorize this concept because the Alameda Municipal Code requires City Council approval for a through-traffic prohibition at an intersection.
BACKGROUND
Neighborhood Greenways are bicycle- and pedestrian-priority streets designed to allow bicyclists and motorists to safely share the road on low-volume, low-speed, local streets, and to make crossing larger streets easier for people biking and walking. The City’s Active Transportation Plan (ATP) includes this new facility type to create a connected, low-stress biking network that can be safely and comfortably used by people of all ages and abilities (Exhibit 2).
The ATP, adopted in 2022, defines key Neighborhood Greenway goals:
• Achieve and Maintain Low Vehicle Volumes and Speeds: Neighborhood Greenway streets are only considered low stress when the traffic volumes and speeds are low enough that people biking feel comfortable sharing the roadway space with cars. Reducing traffic speeds and volumes increases safety for all roadway users and improves neighborhood livability.
• Make Street Crossings Safer and More Comfortable. Neighborhood Greenways also include treatments to improve crossings, particularly at busy intersections, to make it easier and safer for people bicycling and walking to cross busy streets.
Neighborhood Greenway implementation is underway in phases:
• Phase 1 will convert the Slow Street segments of Pacific Ave., San Jose Ave./Morton St., and Versailles Ave. to Neighborhood Greenways. Community engagement, data collection, and draft design concepts were completed in 2024 and 2025 for these segments. A pilot segment was completed along Pacific Ave in late 2025, and the final design is now underway, with construction anticipated by summer 2027.
• Phase 2 will complete the remaining six Neighborhood Greenways in the 2030 Low-Stress Backbone Network, pending securing funding and staff resources. With grant funding from Alameda CTC, planning and design for key intersections, including Pacific Avenue at Wilma Chan Way, has begun for Phase 2.
The Alameda Municipal Code requires City Council approval for a through-traffic prohibition at an intersection. Neighborhood Greenway design features typically focus on calming traffic speeds through treatments such as speed humps, neighborhood traffic circles, and curb extensions, which do not substantially alter traffic circulation. In some cases, traffic prohibitions or other higher-level interventions are evaluated and presented through community outreach to improve safety at complex or high-traffic intersections.
Pacific Avenue is a low-traffic east-west neighborhood street designated as a Neighborhood Greenway, but walking or biking across Wilma Chan Way on Pacific Ave is currently difficult and uncomfortable. The skewed intersection lacks traffic control, and Wilma Chan Way is four lanes with 30 MPH prevailing speeds and daily traffic of almost 17,000 vehicles. The City has received community complaints about safety at the intersection, and the intersection has a history of motor vehicle broadside collisions.
Because of the complexity of design considerations at Pacific Avenue and Wilma Chan Way, the City launched a standalone community outreach and design process for this intersection in Spring 2026, with the goal of developing a safe and comfortable bicycle and pedestrian crossing of Wilma Chan Way along Pacific Avenue. The resulting recommended design concept includes a through traffic prohibition, which requires City Council review and approval.
DISCUSSION
On December 3, 2024, the City Council adopted a resolution of support for an Alameda CTC grant application to fund safety and connectivity improvements at Neighborhood Greenway crossings of major streets, including Pacific Avenue at Wilma Chan Way. The grant application was successful, and on September 16, 2025, City Council accepted and appropriated these funds. With this grant funding, the City began alternatives analysis and design concept development with the support of the Parametrix consultant team in February 2026. The team conducted community engagement on the alternatives in late May and June 2026, including a public workshop, online survey, and direct engagement with neighbors and businesses like Grocery Outlet. Staff presented the resulting recommended design concept to the Transportation Commission on July 22. The intersection design goals are:
• Improve safety for all road users
• Make bicycle and pedestrian crossing of Wilma Chan Way safer and more comfortable
• Maintain low traffic volumes on the Pacific Avenue Neighborhood Greenway
A summary of community engagement activities and findings is provided in Exhibit 3, and a technical memorandum summarizing the results of the alternatives analysis is provided in Exhibit 4. After outreach and analysis, the resulting recommended concept was presented to the Transportation Commission and unanimously endorsed. It includes the following design features:
1. Vehicle turn restriction: Median diverter that would allow pedestrian and bicycle crossings of Wilma Chan Way but prohibit through and left turn movements for Pacific Avenue (movements with low existing traffic volumes). Pacific Avenue vehicle traffic would be right in/right out at Wilma Chan Way. The median design would allow for Fire Department access across Wilma Chan Way. The median diverter reduces vehicle conflicts with people walking and bicycling across Wilma Chan Way, allows for a signal-controlled bicycle and pedestrian crossing without encouraging through traffic on Pacific Avenue, and addresses the history of broadside collisions at this location.
2. Signal: A new traffic signal for Wilma Chan Way would fully stop traffic for people walking and biking across the street, and for vehicles turning right out of Pacific Avenue. A new signal would be coordinated with existing signals on Wilma Chan Way to ensure safe corridor speeds and smooth traffic flow. Advance signage and warnings would ensure visibility for drivers traveling around the curve on Wilma Chan Way. Adding traffic control is essential for safe crossing of this high-speed, high-volume street.
3. Center Aligned Bikeway: To allow for separate signal detection and provide separation between bicyclists going through and vehicles turning right, the concept provides a bike lane in the intersection approach.
The Community and Transportation Commission's comments were supportive of the concept plan. Comments focused on potential speed management strategies for Wilma Chan Way as a whole; details of the signal design to improve safety and mitigate potential traffic impacts to nearby neighborhood streets; and a focus on visibility and advance warning for drivers traveling north on Wilma Chan Way.
With City Council approval, staff will proceed with the final design for the intersection, including investigating and incorporating features responsive to community and Transportation Commission input. If the City Council does not approve of the median turn restriction, staff would advance an alternative design that uses a Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon (PHB) instead of a standard signal. A PHB is a traffic control device designed to help pedestrians cross high-speed roadways while keeping side street traffic stopped and controlled. Although PHBs can be effective, they require a higher degree of user judgment than a standard signal. Staff does not recommend this location for the City’s first implementation of a PHB due to the high traffic volumes, roadway curvature, and higher speeds on Wilma Chan Way.
ALTERNATIVES
City Council may consider the following alternatives to the staff recommendation, as well as other alternatives not identified below:
• Direct staff to pursue a PHB which would not restrict vehicle movements at Pacific and Wilma Chan (not recommended).
• Direct staff to investigate alternative designs while still achieving the goals of a Neighborhood Greenway (not recommended).
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The project is fully funded by a grant from the Alameda County Transportation Commission and by previously allocated General Fund for Neighborhood Greenways. There is no new financial impact on the General Fund or other transportation funding sources.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
California Streets and Highways Code Section 1800 authorizes the City Council to do any and all things necessary to lay out, acquire, and construct any section or portion of any street or highway within its jurisdiction. In turn, the City Council has delegated significant authority to the Public Works Director to ensure orderly operations of the transportation systems, subject to the City Council’s broader and continuing oversight. Actions that substantively reduce access or capacity for any mode, including single-occupancy vehicles, are brought to City Council for review and approval.
The 2023 Strategic Plan includes Project TIE10: Plan, design, and construct a backbone low-stress bicycle network, pedestrian safety, and traffic-calming projects. The 2022 Active Transportation Plan designates Pacific Avenue as Neighborhood Greenways on this backbone low-stress network.
The Alameda Active Transportation Plan (2022) includes nine Neighborhood Greenways, totaling almost 10 miles, to be implemented by 2030, per the 2030 Infrastructure Plan (Table 10), which are essential to creating a connected, low-stress bikeway network.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), this action is categorically exempt from further environmental review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15301 (Existing Facilities)
CLIMATE IMPACT
The Climate Action and Resiliency Plan Update (2025) found that transportation accounts for 54% of the City’s greenhouse gas emissions, and that moving people out of automobiles is paramount to reducing transportation-related emissions. The proposed Neighborhood Greenway projects support bicycle and pedestrian mode shifts by increasing safety and comfort for walking and biking.
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the City Manager or Designee to install safety and active transportation improvements at Pacific Avenue and Wilma Chan Way, which includes a prohibition of through traffic along Pacific Avenue and all left turns in the intersection.
Respectfully submitted,
Abigail Thorne-Lyman, Interim Planning, Building, and Transportation Director
By,
Scott Wikstrom, City Engineer
Susie Hufstader, Senior Transportation Coordinator
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Ross McCarthy, Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. Pacific Ave/Wilma Chan Way Design Concept
2. ATP 2030 Low-Stress Backbone Network
3. Community Input
4. Design Technical Memorandum