The City of Oakland Department of Transportation (OakDOT) is pioneering a network of Slow Streets, designed to champion eco-friendly travel at pedestrian and cyclist speeds. This initiative aims to transform neighborhood streets into vibrant community hubs. Building upon Oakland’s history of bicycle boulevards and insights gained from temporary street closures during the Covid-19 pandemic, this project is set to redefine how we use our streets.
The Purpose Behind Slow Streets: Prioritizing People Over Speed on Our Streets
Consider the function of urban freeways – designed for rapid transit across the city. Motor vehicle traffic often dominates streets, sidelining other uses. Pedestrians and cyclists can feel unsafe due to the speed and volume of cars, and busy streets can erode community connections, making it less likely for neighbors to interact or for children to play outside. Now, envision a network of streets intentionally designed for slowness, mirroring how freeways are engineered for speed. These Slow Streets are for walking, biking, jogging, and navigating with low-speed electric vehicles. They represent a complementary layer to our existing transportation system, working alongside major streets, public transit, and freeways. Slow Streets in Oakland neighborhoods have the exciting potential to create valuable public spaces and strengthen community bonds right on our doorsteps.
Learning from the Pandemic: Applying Lessons to Permanent Slow Streets
During the initial two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, OakDOT experimented with temporary Slow Streets, closing off 21 miles of streets to through traffic using temporary barriers. This response to the pandemic yielded many positive outcomes but also presented challenges, leading to its conclusion in early 2022. Throughout the remainder of 2022, OakDOT analyzed the lessons learned from this temporary program to determine the feasibility of developing permanent Slow Streets that could retain the successes while mitigating the challenges. For more detailed information on the pandemic-era Slow Streets program, you can consult this archive.
OakDOT’s Plan for Permanent Slow Streets: Shaping the Future of Our Streets
OakDOT has formulated a comprehensive framework for implementing permanent Slow Streets, detailed in this presentation. This framework encompasses both planning considerations – identifying which streets are best suited to become Slow Streets – and design considerations – determining the appropriate treatments and installations for these streets. This initiative directly builds upon the planning and design principles of neighborhood bike routes, or bicycle boulevards, outlined in Oakland’s 2019 Bicycle Plan. However, a significant re-evaluation is underway to incorporate a more inclusive and comprehensive vision for Slow Streets, going beyond just bicycle traffic.
Currently, improvements are being integrated through the City’s Five-Year Paving Plan on streets also designated as proposed neighborhood bike routes in the 2019 Bicycle Plan. The Bicycle Plan proposes a network of 75 miles of neighborhood bike routes, with 50 miles included within the Paving Plan. For these 50 miles of streets, OakDOT is actively identifying optimal locations for new speed humps and traffic circles. They are also focused on minimizing the number of intersections where cross traffic does not yield and identifying major intersecting streets that would benefit from enhanced crossing infrastructure.
This approach is primarily guided by OakDOT’s Neighborhood Bike Route Implementation Guide. It’s important to note the updated signage and pavement marking guidelines presented in the framework presentation mentioned earlier, signaling an evolution in approach. OakDOT intends to update the Neighborhood Bike Route Implementation Guide to become a Slow Streets Implementation Guide, reflecting this broader vision. This updated guide will be enriched by the practical experience OakDOT staff are gaining through ongoing projects and public feedback received on both the framework presentation and the current Guide.
Your Input Matters: Shaping the Evolution of Oakland’s Streets
OakDOT encourages community feedback via email, using the contact information provided on their website. As this is a long-term initiative, feedback on the overall strategic approach is particularly valuable at this stage. While location-specific inquiries and comments are welcome, broader input on the framework will be most impactful in shaping the program’s direction. Supporters should be aware that, unlike the rapid implementation during the pandemic, this rollout is intentionally gradual and incremental. Conversely, residents who had reservations about the pandemic street closures may find reassurance in this measured and incremental approach, which prioritizes community input and focuses on thoughtful implementation of speed humps, traffic circles, and careful selection of streets for the Slow Streets network.
Understanding Essential Places: Prioritizing Needs on Our Streets
The concept of “essential services” gained prominence during the early phases of the Covid-19 pandemic, referring to services critical for public well-being that could not be suspended during shelter-in-place orders. OakDOT recognized this concept as a valuable tool for prioritizing areas where vulnerable populations are likely to travel to meet their fundamental needs. To formalize this concept, OakDOT adopted the term “Essential Places.”
Essential Places encompass locations such as schools, health clinics, early childhood development centers, senior centers, libraries, recreation centers, public transportation hubs, and grocery stores. Oakland has approximately 380 such locations. This “Essential Places” approach is currently being utilized in the prioritization of traffic safety service requests. OakDOT is actively exploring further opportunities to leverage the Essential Places framework as a planning and prioritization tool for broader safety improvements across our streets.
Requesting Slow Streets: Focusing on City-Wide Network of Streets
During the pandemic, there was significant public interest in designating residential streets as closed to through traffic. Some residents were motivated by traffic calming benefits, while others sought to utilize their streets for neighborhood social gatherings. During the pandemic response, OakDOT lacked the resources to proactively address these individual requests, and this limitation remains. Looking ahead, OakDOT aims to develop a “Pop-up Slow Streets” program to empower residents to temporarily close their streets for community events like block parties. OakDOT envisions these events as a way to foster a local culture of utilizing streets as neighborhood resources for social interaction and recreation. A Pop-up Slow Streets program would be instrumental in nurturing a community-driven approach to reclaiming our streets.
For residents seeking permanent traffic calming measures on their street, information on how to apply for a speed bump is available. For those interested in organizing a block party, the special event permit process provides the necessary steps. For suggestions regarding streets that could be incorporated into the broader Slow Streets network, residents are encouraged to provide input via email to the contact information listed on the OakDOT website.
Documents
Last updated: 2/21/2023
