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 ride in or through El Cerrito? Yup, me too!
Want a San Pablo Avenue that is safer for your and your family to ride? I thought so!
Want protected bike lanes on San Pablo Avenue? Go to one of the El Cerrito meetings and speak up!
Opponents are up in arms over El Cerrito’s plans for designing bikeways on San Pablo Avenue, including protected bikeways in the Midtown area between its two BART stations. We need supporters at Monday’s City Council meeting. Because of opposition, it appears that the proposed Plan has removed bike lanes in sections, due mainly to concerns about parking, many of these concerns without basis. Please help us convince local businesses that you are their best customers and that you support continuous bikeways on San Pablo Avenue.
We still want to see bike lanes included at the north and south ends of San Pablo Avenue, where sharrows are currently proposed in the Downtown and Uptown areas of El Cerrito. The goal is a continuous bikeway on San Pablo Avenue between public transit, businesses, and residences, connecting you to the places you ride. Sharrows are no substitute for your safety.
Please attend the meeting and tell El Cerrito City Council that you bike to get to businesses on San Pablo Ave, that bike lanes will be good for their economy.
If you can’t attend Monday’s meeting, email Melanie Mintz, interim Community Development Director, Mayor Greg Lyman, or any of the City Council Members – Janet Abelson, Rebecca Benassini, Jan Bridges or Mark Friedman.
For more info go to El Cerrito’s website on the San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan.
Contribute to the greening and bike & ped friendliness of our neighbor to the north, El Cerrito!
Please join City Staff THIS Wednesday, October 22nd at 7 pm in the El Cerrito City Hall Council Chambers for a Joint Study Session of the Parks & Recreation Commission and the Environmental Quality Committee and hear an update from the Community Development Department on the City’s Urban Greening Plan, currently underway. The two bodies called for the City’s successful application for a Proposition 84 Urban Greening Planning Grant in 2011. The Plan evaluates existing parks and open spaces in the city and proposes policies, programs and projects to create and enhance vibrant, ecological green spaces in El Cerrito. The public will have an opportunity to provide comments at the end of the presentation.
Additional comments and questions may be submitted to Emily Alter via email at EAlter@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us or at (510) 215-4385. The City anticipates that the draft Urban Greening Plan will be released early 2015. For more information on the Plan, please visit www.ElCerritoUrbanGreening.org
Here are some of the 96 BikeLink lockers at nearby El Cerrito Plaza BART
Come help our neighbor to the North, El Cerrito, shape its bicycle and pedestrian future!
The Open House for El Cerrito’s Active Transportation Plan will begin with a short presentation about the planning process and proposed bicycle and pedestrian networks. Focus area project posters will be available for review and comment throughout the workshop.
The City released the draft Plan for public comment on Sunday, June 14th. The Plan, which is an update to the 2007 Circulation Plan for Bicyclists and Pedestrians, evaluated the existing bicycle and pedestrian networks and identified new focus projects and programs to close gaps in these networks and provide amenities to make it easier to bike and walk in El Cerrito.
The draft Plan proposes nine focus area projects, revised bicycle and pedestrian networks, a policy toolkit and program framework to making walking and biking easier in El Cerrito. The nine focus area projects are:
- BART to Bay Trail Access Improvements at Central Avenue, Carlson Boulevard, and Cerrito Creek Connections between Plaza BART and the Bay Trail
- Ohlone Greenway Crossing Improvements – Citywide
- Citywide Wayfinding at Key Walking and Biking Routes
- Arlington Boulevard Pedestrian Improvements
- East Side Bicycle Boulevard – Blake Street, Norvell Street, Schmidt Lane, Richmond Street,
- Moeser Lane, Norvell Street, Lincoln Avenue, Albemarle Street, Behrens Street
- Wayfinding associated with East Side Bicycle Boulevard
- Key Boulevard Improvements – between Humboldt Street and Hill Street
- Fairmount Avenue Improvements – between Carlson Boulevard and Colusa Avenue
- Potrero Avenue Improvements – between western City Limit and Ohlone Greenway
The draft Plan is available for review via the project website, www.el-cerrito.org/ATP. Public comments will be accepted from Sunday, June 14th until Friday, July 17th and may be submitted via email to the Public Works Department at streets@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us, via mail to City of El Cerrito, 10890 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito, CA 94530 or dropped off at the El Cerrito City Hall Front Counter, Attn: Public Works.
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.
Join Friends of Albany Parks and El Cerrito Green Teams and in their first trash/litter clean-up of 2016! They will be meeting at a scenic stretch of Cerrito Creek alongside El Cerrito Plaza to clean up the creek and surrounding areas as needed. All ages are welcome.
Sign up to volunteer today!
(510) 215-4350, green@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us or just show up!
Latecomers welcome. Meet near Trader Joe’s south side in El Cerrito Plaza. Tools, gloves and good company provided. Wear closed-toed shoes with traction and clothes that can get dirty.
Here’s a great family event with our El Cerrito neighbors!
Need a kid’s bike at a great price? Just want to ride around with your family?
They also set up an obstacle course, offer free minor repairs to community members bringing their own bike to the event, have a food truck on site, and generally try to make it a fun celebration of bicycling even for those not coming to buy a used bike. Details are below and at the following link.
The Harding ReCycle is a bicycle festival where you can
- buy a “ReCycled” bicycle refurbished by the Harding Dad’s Club bike mechanics
- get basic repairs on your bike for free
- learn how to make repairs yourself
- bring or borrow a bike and ride our obstacle course
- compete in the “Slowest Bike Race”
- learn how to ride without training wheels
Buy a $2 raffle ticket to be entered in a raffle for a brand new kids bike valued at $350!!
Have a bike to donate? They’ll accept donations of used bicycles up to and including the day of the Harding Recycle. Arrange for your donation to be picked up from your home by emailing hardingrecycle@gmail.com, or bring it to the event on May 21st.
Want more info? Go to their website!
Want better conditions on BART? Come to this forum!
Do you take the train and/or bus in addition to biking & walking? If so, this forum is important for you to attend!!
This forum for BART & AC Directors, as well as info on the BART Bond Measure, will be co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters Berkeley Albany Emeryville and the Berkeley Chinese Community Church.
- AC Transit Ward 2 (Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville) –
AC Transit buses could have better conditions, too.
Greg Harper, Russ Tilleman
- AC Transit At Large – Dollene C. Jones, H. E. Christian (Chris) Peeples
- Bart Director District 3 – Ken Chew, Worth Freeman, Varun Paul,
Rebecca Saltzman - Bart Director District 7 – Roland Emerson, Zakhary Mallett, Will Roscoe, Lateefah Simon
**IF YOU WANT TO BIKE FROM ALBANY OR NEARBY, PROPOSE SOMETHING IN “COMMENTS” HERE ALONG WITH CONTACT INFO FOR YOU
Albany has a chunk of change to spend on improving creek access and quality. And it has to start spending it within a year or two to avoid substantial financial complications (its bond money from a measure passed in the 90’s, and the duration is running out). So the City has scheduled a public discussion at City Hall starting regarding which project(s) to pursue.
There are a couple that would improve active transportation: 1) path from Tenth to Eighth Street along Codornices Creek and 2) a bridge across Cerrito Creek at Adams. The potential project at Codornices Creek would close the last gap on the Codornices Creek path from San Pablo to the soccer fields west of Fifth Street (the path from San Pablo to Tenth is about to be built as part of the senior housing under construction there).
Help connect Adams Street in Albany…
The potential project at Cerrito Creek would allow people to walk east-west along Cerrito Creek from San Pablo to Pierce. Among other, this would benefit Albany High School students living on Pierce that currently ford the creek at Adams.
…with Carlson Blvd in El Cerrito and Richmond!
Amazingly, it would also remove the only barrier along a regional north-south cycling route stretching from near downtown Richmond to the West Oakland BART station and beyond. Most of the other cities along this route (Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley, El Cerrito, and Richmond) have completed their segments and the only other city (Richmond) has completed a large portion of it contiguous with El Cerrito and approved a plan to complete the rest. In contrast, Albany has completed almost none of its segment.
Bridge the gap!
Consequently Albany is the only gap along the existing nine mile long route and the soon to be 12 mile long route. A bridge over Cerrito Creek between Adams and Carlson would literally bridge that gap.
If either of these active transportation projects, or other aspects of creeks is of interest to you, please attend the meeting to learn more and provide your input. Thanks.
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!
