Oakland Avenue Bulb Outs at Jerome and El Cerrito Avenues
On Monday, October 4, 2021, the Piedmont City Council will consider moving ahead with improvements on Oakland Avenue to assist pedestrians, especially school age children, crossing the busy street. Improvements are expected to cost approximately $400,000 to construct “bulb outs” into the thoroughfares reducing the open distance from curb to curb at Jerome and El Cerrito Avenues.
“The Piedmont Beautification Foundation (PBF) has indicated its interest in fundraising for this project with its holiday 2021 campaign. To ensure coordination with this longstanding project, PBF has requested that the City Council indicate if it desires to move forward with the project before the foundation begins its fundraising. Directing staff to proceed with the final design of the project will serve this purpose.”
READ the full staff report with drawings >Oakland Ave Improvements 2021
READ the Agenda HERE.
I hope it is possible to integrate some Green Infrastructure features into these bulbouts. Piedmont is under some pressure from Alameda County to clean up storm water as required by the Federal Clean Water Act.
To those who don’t know Michael’s reference to green infrastructure, it is landscape design intended to divert street run-off and associated pollutants from flowing into the Bay. There’s an in-town example at Ramona-Ronada – a landscaped bulb-out where upslope water flows into the landscape with excess water flowing back to the street. The intersections at Jerome and El Cerrito are prime opportunities for incorporating a similar design. There is state grant funding available for such projects and it will help the city to get this funding if it has an approved Green Infrastructure Plan in place identifying these intersections.