CALL TO ACTION: Please take a moment to fill out the short survey that the City is circulating, particularly the last part, which focuses on Slow Streets barricades. Where asked, choose the option to keep all barricades until Greenways replace them, or in the case of Santa Clara, until the improvements on Central are complete.
Background
It’s a relief to finally see long-overdue movement on Neighborhood Greenways, but very disappointing that our City is contemplating prematurely removing the Slow Street barricades. This would reverse the previous City Council direction to keep the barricades in place until better traffic calming measures are implemented, and strip away what safety gains we’ve enjoyed on these few streets.
Alameda’s Active Transportation Plan calls for transitioning Slow Streets to Greenways this year. Had the City honored this timeline, the frustration some people are experiencing around the barricades would be getting addressed now. Instead of having this debate, and losing even more time with this survey, we’d be moving ahead with meaningful improvements we could all be enjoying.
Bike Walk Alameda has repeatedly raised alarms about the delay of the Neighborhood Greenways program. It’s disheartening that our City has not given this delay the attention it’s due. It’s also hard to have confidence in the revised ETA of 2025 for Slow Street to Greenway conversion, especially since the building approach (quick-build versus permanent infrastructure) has not been decided. Given the many delays with transportation projects we’ve been experiencing and the lack of urgency around this project in particular, it’s possible that by removing the barricades now, we’ll lose any traffic calming on these streets for not just months or a year, but many years.
This is no time for our City to retreat on its commitment to active transportation, a network of safer streets, and climate action. Let’s move forward, not backwards. Let’s keep and improve our Slow Streets until the Greenways are in place, as originally planned. Please fill out this survey and stay engaged as this important project rolls out in the months ahead!
