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. ...
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