The family that rides together thrives together!
Safe road bicycling takes a lot more than balance, a helmet and a good attitude. Join the East Bay Bicycle Coalition’s League Certified safety instructors for a day of fun games, safety drills, skills building, and a neighborhood ride. This workshop is for kids able to ride a bike and who are ready to ride on the roadways with their parents. Parents and kids must attend together and should bring their own bikes. Each child receives a free red blinky light for participating!
It’s free, and it will help you and your family ride the roads of Albany and beyond more safely and confidently.
Register at https://www.ebbc.org/index.php?q=civicrm/event/info&reset=1&id=425
Have you noticed that Albany is small and you often end up in El Cerrito and Berkeley? Here’s a good chance to give some input to our neighbor to the north!
Come help design five urban greening projects to improve the environmental sustainability, economic vitality and community cohesion of the City of El Cerrito! The Community Charrette is an interactive design workshop that allows you to meet with neighbors and other community members to envision the future of five pilot projects: 1) Fairmount Park, 2) Hillside Natural Area, 3) Former Portola Middle School Site, 4) Lower Fairmount Ave from Carlson Blvd to San Pablo Ave, and 5) Bay Trail (Blue Belt) to Wildcat Canyon (Green Belt) Connections. These sites have been selected from a larger list of Urban Greening opportunities for their strategic location, multiple community and environmental benefits, and pilot potential. With feedback gathered at the Charrette, the City’s Urban Greening consultants will prepare conceptual designs to be included in the Urban Greening Plan.
Like some of the things AS&R has been able to accomplish in Albany? Suggest them to the City of El Cerrito. Like what you see in EC? Suggest them here in Albany!
9:30 am Welcome and Plan Overview
10:30 am Breakout Design Sessions
12:00 pm Lunch
12:30 pm Report Back
1:25 pm Next Steps
1:30 pm Close
For more information, please visit the website at www.ElCerritoUrbanGreening.org
Do you and your family go out to the Albany Bulb to enjoy nature? Sure you do!
Please help “Friends of Albany Parks” clean up the Bulb so you, your friends and family can enjoy the experience more!
Plus, get a FREE PIZZA LUNCH from the Albany Community Foundation !
The “Friends of Albany Parks”program is designed to encourage community members to get involved with the care, maintenance and beautification of their favorite neighborhood park. These events also help foster a better sense of community and build social capital as neighbors meet and work with one another.
Volunteers who attend the Clean-Up Day will receive an official Friends of Albany Parks t-shirt. Lunch is provided by the Albany Community Foundation.
Do you and your family ride or walk on the Bay Trail? Then come on down to help clean it up for yourself and everyone…and get a free lunch for your time!
Join AS&R, Albany Community Foundation, Albany Rotary, and the City of Albany as we work together to clean-up and improve the Bay Trail in Albany. Between Buchanan Avenue and our border with Richmond, the Bay Trail runs along Freeway 680. This stretch receives a lot of trash from the
freeway, and is hard to access for servicing. A recent clean-up job has left this area in a much improved state, but there is work still to be done.
Join us as we paint over graffiti, sweep rocks off of the path, and trim trees to allow easy cycling access. Bring gloves, sunscreen, and a water bottle. Wear clothes you can paint in. Tools will be provided.
Rotary is covering supplies to $100, ACF is providing lunch, and the City will help with trash removal.
Meet at Buchanan and the Bay Trail, just west of the freeway underpass.
Do you, a friend or family member want to ride your bike more but don’t feel confident enough?
Here’s a FREE bicycle skills class RIGHT IN OUR BACKYARD, courtesy of Bike East Bay!
In addition to the regular first-Mondays classes at UC Berkeley, they have now set up a free Urban Cycling 101 Day 1 classroom workshop for adults and teens at the Albany Library/Community Center on Saturday, July 16th, from 1-3pm. Complete details and registrations are available here.
The class is FREE but it’s mandatory to register here.
If you’ve read about Ciclovías and Open Streets events all over the world, here’s one right in your backyard!
On Sunday, October 23rd (NEW DATE due to 10/16 weather) from 11am-4pm, Shattuck Avenue between Rose and Haste will be closed to motor vehicles so you can bike, skate, wheelchair, scooter and walk to your heart’s content!
There will be plenty of activities for your and your family to enjoy, or just wander along the street with no worries about cars, grab a bite at an outdoor table and hang out!
For more information, go to www.sundaystreetsberkeley.org .
Hope to see you there!
The Bay Conservation & Development Commission will hold a Hearing on the Albany Beach Project.
Albany Beach Restoration & Public Access Project (first review) is the first actual agenda item of the meeting.
The Design Review Board will review the design by the East Bay Regional Parks District, Questa Engineering, and 2M Associates for the Albany Beach Restoration and Public Access Project in the Cities of Albany and Berkeley, adjacent to Golden Gate Fields. The project would enhance the existing beach and dunes and would create approximately 4,765 linear feet of new Bay Trail, overlooks, and a 20-space parking lot.
Link to Meeting Materials which includes exhibits for the above which is Item 4 (but the first actual agenda item) on the Tentative Agenda.
After a group of Albany residents, including fellow Strollers & Rollers, pointed out improvements that should be made to our Waterfront, there will be a chance to see the plans and give input on the Albany Bay Trail and beach project, officially known as the Albany Beach Restoration and Public Access Project.
Let’s make sure that OUR Waterfront is optimized for people who want to bike, walk, stroll and roll. There is a lot of car parking, but not nearly as much attention paid to parking for bicycles.
Note: a quorum of the City Council and/or an advisory body to the City Council may be present at this public meeting.
Here is the site plan
And the existing conditions map
And the complete packet from the most recent public meeting (April 17), which was at the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission Design Review Board. This packet has cross-sections and more detailed plans and a staff report.
Albany resident and landscape architect Hugo Larman drafted this updated plan based on community input, which expands the beach area, adds bike racks and moves car parking near existing parking.
EIR and other info from EBRPD (scroll down to where is says “Albany Beach Habitat Restoration and Public Access Project.”)
AS&R member Dan Johnson prepared comments and alternative plans . After further discussion, Dan & others believe that the location for parking might not be feasible. However his diagram about the amount of paving is relevant.
While not a part of EBRPD’s plan, the Albany Waterfront Committee’s Cove Enhancement Plan should be completed by the City of Albany and taken into account by EBRPD for a comprehensive plan at the entire waterfront. The only reason it was not completed in 2012 was because EBRPD requested the City hold off because of upcoming construction. That reason is long past.
In response to recent community comments, the designers are making efforts to reduce the large amount of pavement for the vehicle driveway and turnaround to leave more open space for recreation at the south end of the site. However, a number of us believe that it would be more functional and would preserve more open space (as well as reduce bicycle-pedestrian conflicts) to locate the parking near the existing parking, on the north side of Buchanan St., which would eliminate the need for the long driveway. However, this area is City-owned and outside the EBRPD project area.
Do you bike or walk on Central Avenue under I-80 to reach the places you enjoy?
Would you like to help make it easier and safer to do so?
The Central Avenue / Interstate 80 (I-80) underpass in Richmond leads to a lot of great places—the San Francisco Bay Trail, Point Isabel Dog Park, Costco and the Richmond Marina, to name a few.
CalTrans District 4 wants your ideas on how to transform the underpass into a high-quality pedestrian and bicycle connection!
Help improve your biking and walking experience in the East Bay!
Join us at the Community Workshop to share ideas on the project design. We will discuss safety features, lighting, wayfinding and other design elements.
WHO:
You! Residents, cyclists and walkers in Richmond, El Cerrito, Albany (Pierce Street and West Albany residents, that means you!!) and beyond.
For more information, go to http://www.dot.ca.gov/d4/transplanning/i-80central.html
Celebrate Bay Day with Albany Strollers & Rollers, Bike East Bay and Love the Bulb! Join a relaxed Bay Trail bike ride and walking tour of the Albany Bulb. Ride starts at North Berkeley BART, goes up to Point Isabel and back, and finishes at the Albany Bulb. We will check out some recent and upcoming Bay Trail improvements and end the ride with the opportunity to take a walking tour of the unique art and nature of the Albany Bulb. If you’d like, grab a bite at FoodieLand Night Market near Albany Beach (plenty of bike parking- bring a lock!) before heading home.
This is the third of Bike East Bay’s Fall Ride Series: a collection of family-friendly rides exploring excellent trails projects in the East Bay. You’ll learn about the surrounding area, and explore favorite routes on these low-key rides. Check out the full schedule at BikeEastBay.org/FallRides.
To RSVP please go here. If anyone wants to ride from Albany to North Berkeley BART, leave a comment with meeting place and time.