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Greenbelt Alliance In the News

June 13, 2004

Building a better boulevard

Caltrans exploring a reinvention of East Bay's San Pablo Avenue

But Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, backed by a team of Caltrans consultants and volunteers from the Greenbelt Alliance, has a different view.

"We can make San Pablo Avenue a world-class boulevard," Hancock said Saturday.

Speaking to nearly 100 representatives of the cities along San Pablo and citizens interested in the fate of the historic street, Hancock admitted that San Pablo is dotted with areas that are fairly bleak. All that can change, she said.

"We can build an environmentally sustainable avenue. Think trees. Think cafes. Think street design -- something more than a transit corridor," Hancock said.

The day began with a morning bus tour of San Pablo Avenue. The street -- a U.S. highway in the early days of the automobile -- begins at City Hall in downtown Oakland and extends through Emeryville, Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito, Richmond, San Pablo, Pinole and ends in Hercules.

Saturday afternoon, Caltrans consultant Phil Erickson of Community Design/Architecture presented a $25,000 study, paid by Caltrans, outlining future themes for the avenue.

Today, the street has many faces -- but it's major role is to ferry cars as quickly as possible and act as a traffic reliever for the I-80 freeway.

Things are changing, Erickson said. He noted that AC Transit's new Rapid Bus system is drawing riders and Caltrans has realized that older highways like San Pablo have potential as something more than faceless traffic corridors.

I live in Oakland. I got stuck on San Pablo; there were no buses running late on Sundays. That sounds stupid to me, said Jerry Grace.

Albany City Councilman Allan Maris said Albany has discovered that developers and economists recommend three- and four-story buildings with parking structures on the street. "But neighbors say no four-story buildings; no parking structures, no parking lots," Maris said.

Michelle Guzman said a survey of merchants and shoppers in Emeryville showed that the wide, busy avenue is a problem all by itself; it's hard to get across the street on a green light, she said.

Patrick Kelich, a Berkeley public works official, recalled a visit to Disneyland 20 years ago. Disneyland had six to eight different transportation systems, he said. Today, that's common in much of the world.

We've got to think outside the box and do something here, he said.

In a straw vote, using new electronic devices, the group that included city council members from Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley and Albany, strongly supported making the avenue pedestrian friendly and convenient for public transit and creating a climate that is good for business.

The goal of moving more cars faster along the street finished dead last on everyone's list, except for representatives of Pinole and Hercules.

Erickson said San Pablo Avenue has a unique history. The street began as a street car route, then became an early highway connecting Oakland with small towns to the north. It became the final link of the first transcontinental highway in 1927.

The street cars were removed in the 1930s, then were brought back during World War II to bring workers to the Richmond shipyards, Erickson said.

The street cars disappeared at the end of the war; the I-80 Freeway was built; San Pablo became state Highway 237, and became the speedway it mostly is today.

Contact William Brand at bbrand@angnewspapers.com .

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