Hey, Albany cyclists – do you want to take a spin with Albany’s City Council/Commission/Committee Members and City Staff? Would you like to show them what you like about our cycling infrastructure and explain how things should to be improved? Then please join Albany Traffic & Safety Commissioner Farid Javandel on Thursday morning for the 2nd Annual City Officials’ Bike to Work Day Ride Around Albany!
The ride will meet at 7:15 a.m. for 7:30 wheels up at the bike racks by the parking lot at City Hall and do a brief tour of Albany, highlighting some of our cycling highlights, current and future projects, and trouble spots. Route tba depending on attendees’ preference so arrive early to put your two cents in!
You will finish at Albany Strollers & Rollers’ Energizer Station at Marin Avenue & the Ohlone Greenway, where we will have giveaways, snacks, free safety checks from Blue Heron Bikes, Wheels of Justice and Berkeley Bikes & Skateboards, as well as our usual festive atmosphere!
There are lots of items on the agenda that affect cyclists and pedestrians here in Albany.
Those include the following:
*7-1, City Council Strategic Planning Follow Up
Part of what City Council Members recommended in its recent planning session was an emphasis on parks, including the long-awaited Pierce Street Park, and a more bikeable and walkable Albany.
Please speak in support of these plans and concepts!
*7-2, Update on “Complete Streets” planning for Buchanan Street and San Pablo Avenue to improve safety for walking, biking, and other modes of travel. The Staff recommendation is for Council to provide direction to staff and the Traffic and Safety Commission.
Show up and speak to let Council hear that a more bike and pedestrian friendly San Pablo Avenue should be a priority and a reality!
It may also be a good time to speak about your vision for Bike Boulevards on Kains and Adams, making up for the fact that many people will not feel safe riding on San Pablo in the sections without bike lanes.
*8-1, Albany Wayfinding Plan for Bicyclists and Pedestrians
Whenever I ride around Berkeley I marvel at the signage that directs me to the best and safest roads to cycle. I am also fully convinced that motorists on or crossing roads with signage for bicyclists are more courteous to their two-wheeled friends sharing the road.
Show up and tell Council that we all need wayfinding signage for our convenience and safety!
If you can’t attend, please consider writing a brief letter in support of any of these items to cityhall@albanyca.org requesting specifically that your letter be sent to all the City Council Members.
Thanks! Feel free to email the Discussion List or any of the Core Group with any questions or thoughts.
Contribute to the greening and bike friendliness of our neighbor to the north, El Cerrito!
Come explore a greener, more compact, bikeable and walkable El Cerrito at the upcoming Community Open House!
The City will be presenting the new regulatory framework proposed in the San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan and Complete Streets Plan to encourage higher-density, mixed-use development with bicycle and pedestrian improvements and new public open space. Information on the City’s Urban Greening Plan key opportunity sites and Active Transportation Plan priority projects will be available.
The Open House will take place on Saturday, October 19th at the Community Center, from 9am to 1pm with repeated presentations at 9am and 11am. Come hear about the City’s planning efforts and provide your feedback on the proposed regulations, priority projects and opportunity sites.
For more info go here.
Ride with us and our neighbors at the Tour de Trails!
Come join with our friends from Rich-City Rides and Bike East Bay on a 16-mile ride showcasing little-known local trails on Dec. 6!
The ride, which takes off from Richmond BART station at 10 a.m., is fun, easy-paced and mostly off-street and paved, according to Rich City Rides, the local nonprofit co-hosting the event with Bike East Bay.
Riders will learn how to navigate some of the more complicated sections of trail and discuss what needs to be done to make Richmond’s, El Cerrito’s and Albany’s trails easier to use.
The ride heads south from the Richmond BART station to the Richmond Greenway trail, then continues east on the trail to the start of the Ohlone Greenway trail in El Cerrito. The trip then goes south on the Ohlone to Albany, where it connects with the Marin/Buchanan Bikeway. Cyclists will then head north on the Bay Trail, looping back to the start of our route at Richmond BART.
Children under 16 must be accompanied with an adult and should be able to ride with their parents safely in the street. Anyone under age 18 must where a helmet.
Any parents who want to learn more about biking with children can attend one of the free family workshops offered online at www.BikeEastBay.org/FCW, or check out our website at www.BikeEastBay.org/FamilyCycling for more information.
Preview the route online at: www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/538365706. Those who can’t join the full route can get on BART at El Cerrito Del Norte at mile 3.3, El Cerrito Plaza at mile 5.2, or just head north on the Greenway until you meet up with the ride.
Please rsvp to the Facebook Event: Tour De Trails
These racks that AS&R provided for the City are perfectly situated for folks who want to enjoy the beach, a hike or just enjoy the beautiful view. Let’s make sure we still have recreational access to the Albany Bulb and the Neck!
Do you ride your bike, walk, hike, jog or otherwise enjoy the Albany Bulb & Neck areas? Do you want to continue to have access so you can enjoy the Albany Waterfront to its fullest? Both pieces are scheduled to be transferred to the East Bay Regional Park District and some groups and individuals want to curtail recreational use. Further details about the process and possibilities are here on our website.
This meeting will be the first opportunity to give PUBLIC INPUT saying that yes, recreational access is important to you and your family!
More details will be posted as we have more information but please save the date to make sure we have access to OUR WATERFRONT! Speak up, or we are in danger of losing recreational access.
Some materials related to this effort are found here:
1. Conservancy Staff Report 5-29-2014
2. WRT_Albany Neck & Bulb Stakeholder Meeting_Access and Recreation
3. Scope of Consultant Services for Albany Neck and Bulb Transition Plan
Want bike trails like this along our beautiful Bay? Speak up!
Give your input to improve the Greenway by El Cerrito BART stations!
Come help our neighbor to the North, El Cerrito, shape its (and your) bicycle and pedestrian future!
The primary goals of this project are to:
*Improve bicycle and pedestrian routes to transit, commercial nodes and housing
*Bring new vibrancy to the areas around the BART stations
*Increase safety and accessibility for BART riders and Greenway users
*Improve the integration of the El Cerrito Plaza and El Cerrito del Norte BART Stations with the surrounding community.
Here are some of the 96 BikeLink lockers at nearby El Cerrito Plaza BART
On Tuesday November 10 the City of El Cerrito will host a community meeting to review the preferred plan for the Ohlone Greenway at the El Cerrito del Norte and El Cerrito Plaza BART station areas. This is the last of several outreach efforts to engage the public in the process of re-designing the Ohlone Greenway at two key areas in the City. At the meeting, community members will have a chance to voice their opinion on the preferred plan to create gateway elements and outdoor gathering spaces around the Greenway and BART stations, improve the mixed-use bicycle and pedestrian path and intersection crossings, and other enhancements.For more info, go here.
Come on down and learn how to ride a bike more safely – and have more fun!
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.
The crucial Kains/Adams Bicycle Blvd project is on the agenda of December 4th’s City Council Meeting so we need your support!
OR THIS?? SPEAK UP TO MAKE THIS A REALITY IN ALBANY!
WOULD YOU RATHER BIKE ON THIS…..
In October, Albany’s Traffic & Safety Commission passed a plan that included two-way bicycle boulevards with semi-closures, so there will be no additional motor vehicle traffic at all – just safe two-way passage by bicyclists wanting to avoid San Pablo Avenue.
This is Option 3, which the Traffic & Safety Commission chose, without moving any stop signs nor utilizing traffic circles.
There was some local opposition by residents who didn’t see any need for bicycle facilities in Albany but YOU and your neighbors showed up and wrote letters. Let’s make sure that happens at this meeting, too, so bicyclists can ride safely in our town! If you and your family would use either of these Bicycle Boulevards because you want to AVOID bicycling on San Pablo Avenue, live on Kains or Adams, go to the YMCA, please act!
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
1) Send a letter of support to citycouncil@albanyca.org , requesting that your email is forwarded to all City Council members, and cc or bcc me, Amy Smolens , so I can track support, which is important. Even a brief “I support the Kains and Adams Bicycle Boulevards and my family and I would ride on them…”
“My family and I don’t feel safe riding on San Pablo so please approve the Kains and Adams Bicycle Boulevards.” Any additional detail about your support is beneficial, but just do what you can do!
2) Attend this meeting and tell City Council that you and your family need these Bicycle Boulevards that the Traffic & Safety Commission has recommended.
If you are going to go to one meeting this year, this should be it, because Kains/Adams is a central project for our bike network and it’s at risk due to local opposition. I will tell you that I have lived on Kains for 25 years and I and other neighbors support it.
You know what the Warriors say – “Strength in Numbers” so we need you to made your voice heard – thanks!
I’m sure many of you have ridden the Bicycle Boulevards in Berkeley and seen how more comfortable it is to ride Milvia instead of MLK or Shattuck, Russell instead of Ashby, and 9th instead of San Pablo.
If not, here is info on Berkeley’s Bicycle Boulevard system.
Now imagine if people could avoid San Pablo until a half-block from their destination by riding safely & comfortably on Kains and Adams!
Yes, we mind the gap!
Here are a map and chart of the REGIONAL BICYCLE ROUTE from Oakland to Richmond – Albany is the only gap in a 12+ mile North-South bike route. Yes, we “mind the gap!!”
This is the FINAL COMMUNITY MEETING before it becomes a reality, so your attendance is crucial!
