Most Alamedans know we need another way to get on and off the island, especially as our population swells with all the planned housing, and particularly in the West End, where most of the housing is being built. If you don’t have a car, or don’t drive, you may have tried walking or biking the substandard path in the Posey Tube (State Route 260) and know, like almost everyone else who has tried it, that the Tube is hostile to anyone outside of a vehicle. You are unlikely to try it again. You’ve experienced what planners call the ‘barrier effect’, and the need for better walking and biking access is abundantly clear.
Why a new bike and pedestrian bridge?
What many of us may not know is that over the many years estuary access has been studied, lots of options have been looked at and ruled out as infeasible. A car bridge is out, another tube is out, and gondolas are out. A water shuttle is in the works as a midterm, partial solution, and BART is still a possibility in the very long term, but a bike and pedestrian bridge is the only non-transit (all day) infrastructure option remaining to us.
The new website at estuarybridge.org goes deeper into the rationale, but here are some highlights:
- Limited Access: The 36″-wide Posey Tube path, next to fast traffic, is substandard and inadequate for bicyclists and pedestrians. The next closest estuary crossing, Park St Bridge, is 2.5 miles away, further discouraging bicycle and pedestrian travel between West Alameda and downtown Oakland, Jack London Square, BART and Amtrak.
- Supporting Healthy Communities: Shifting away from vehicles can decrease carbon emissions and improve community health.
- Preparing for Disaster: Redundant ways off Alameda would provide additional options for disaster preparedness.
- Combating Climate Change: A new crossing will reduce motor vehicle trips between western Alameda and downtown Oakland, resulting in reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
- Supporting Environmental Justice: The Oakland-Alameda Estuary Bridge will provide a zero-cost estuary crossing to better serve equity priority communities and environmental justice communities in western Alameda and downtown Oakland to help reduce local air pollutants and promote positive health outcomes.
- Investing in Equity: The Oakland-Alameda Estuary Bridge will provide safe, convenient, and free access between downtown Oakland and West Alameda for those that cannot afford to own and operate a vehicle.
- Responding to Deficiencies: The Oakland-Alameda Estuary Bridge will address a major deficiency on State Route 260 which does not provide standard, adequate bicycle and pedestrian access between two adjacent metropolitan areas and will close a major gap in the Regional Bay Trail network.
If you haven’t visited the website yet, be sure to do so — there’s much more content as well as opportunities to get engaged. Stay tuned for updates on this very important project! #BridgeTheGap