If you missed the March 17 Council meeting, it’s one worth going back to watch. Item 7-C offered a comprehensive look at what our City accomplished over the past year—and what’s ahead. (You can jump straight to the annual report and work plan here.) At a time when national headlines might leave you feeling skeptical about government, this presentation is a refreshing reminder: at the local level, thoughtful, effective work is happening—and our city has a lot to be proud of.
One open question is what’s in store for this year’s Pavement Management Program, which wasn’t detailed in the work plan. Even so, the broader project overview paints an encouraging picture. There’s a full pipeline of improvements on the horizon: completion of the Cross Alameda Trail, the completion of Central Avenue improvements, construction of the Jean Sweeney Open Space trail connectors, final design and hopefully breaking ground on Grand Street improvements between Otis and Encinal, more neighborhood greenways, and many more initiatives captured in the (admittedly busy) diagram below. In short, there’s a lot of good on the way.
Council also discussed the intersection of Lincoln and Walnut, approved the proposed traffic diverter, and heard City Engineer Scott Wikstrom share early findings from the City’s Vision Zero–aligned safety efforts. The results are notable. While some intersections, like Lincoln and Walnut, still need attention, overall collision rates have dropped by 9%. On major corridors where lane reductions—often called “road diets”—have been implemented (Main, Otis, Park, Webster), preliminary data shows crashes are down between 26% and 40%. This is consistent with Federal Highway Administration findings for road diets, but it’s especially gratifying to see those same safety gains playing out locally.
These gains don’t come without challenges. Reallocating street space often sparks pushback, as we saw with Mecartney, and construction phases are rarely convenient. But these results underscore why the effort matters. Safer streets are not theoretical—they’re measurable, and they’re already making a difference.
As we’ve shared in communications to Council (here, here and here, for example), we strongly support staff’s work and process, and we appreciate Council’s continued commitment—even when the path forward isn’t easy. The City has collectively adopted ambitious goals and plans, and delivering on them requires this kind of coordinated, system-level approach. Moving holistically, beyond block-by-block decisions, is how we make meaningful progress on safety, mobility, equity, and climate—and it’s encouraging to see that vision taking shape.