Lincoln Avenue/Marshall Way/Pacific Avenue Corridor Improvements

In Sept 2024, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced more than $1 billion in grants including $16 million to the City of Alameda for the Lincoln/Marshall/Pacific corridor improvement project.  In April 2023, City Council endorsed the design concept(PDF, 191KB) and approved the consultant contract to continue with design, which is in process and is expected to continue through 2025.  Construction is anticipated to commence in 2026 and be completed in 2027.

Next steps include completing the safety improvements at the Lincoln/Walnut intersection, corridor design work and continued grant writing.

View the detailed concept:

Concept: The concept includes a road diet - going from four to three travel lanes with a center turn lane and bike lanes - as well as a roundabout at Lincoln Avenue/Fifth Street/Marshall Way, flashing beacons, pedestrian/bicycle signals, modernized traffic signals, crosswalk improvements, school frontage improvements, stormwater gardens and best practices, street trees, disabled parking and loading zones, improved lighting and bus stop enhancements.  The concept will likely be phased in over time, as street sections are resurfaced and constructed with grant funding.  Immediate action will occur on Lincoln Avenue at Walnut Street with the installation of flashing beacons and increased intersection visibility.  Public on-street parking will be maintained except adjacent to the roundabout and at intersections and select driveways to improve visibility.

Background: The City identified the Lincoln Avenue/Marshall Way/Pacific Avenue corridor between Alameda Point at Main Street/Central Avenue and Broadway as a high priority for safety and mobility improvements.  The corridor connects neighborhoods across Alameda, is over three miles long, and serves multiple destinations including schools, commercial districts and parks.  It is a Tier 1 high injury corridor with several high crash intersections according to the City's Vision Zero Action Plan.  City staff is working with Parametrix, Inc. to develop a safety and operational concept for the corridor and to complete the pre-construction design.  City staff/consultant team evaluated the corridor uses, intersection controls and crash data, and conducted two rounds of community outreach. Road diets are shown to reduce crashes up to 47 percent. Roundabouts reduce fatal and severe injury crashes up to 78 percent compared to traffic signals.

Correspondence: To receive project updates via email, subscribe directly here.  Please direct questions or comments to Gail Payne by phone at (510) 747-6892 or by email at gpayne@alamedaca.gov

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2021

  • December: Project kick-off with City staff, consultant and stakeholders

2022

  • January 12: Love Elementary School PTA meeting
  • April: Community input via a survey on existing conditions and initial findings
  • April 27: Virtual community workshop 
  • April 28: In-person open house at Main Library
  • May 25: Transportation Commission on existing conditions and initial findings
  • June 30: Grant submittal to the Alameda County Transportation Commission
  • October: Community input via a survey on draft concept ideas
  • October 25: Virtual community workshop
  • October 27: In-person open house at Main Library

2023

  • Jan 25: AC Transit Interagency Liaison Committee
  • Feb 15: Transportation Commission endorsed the concept
  • April 18: Site tour at Lincoln/Marshall/Fifth
  • April 18: City Council endorsed the design concept and approved the consultant agreement for design work
  • June 20: City Council accepted the Alameda County Transportation Commission grant funds for $567,000 and approved $1 million in Measure BB and Development Impact Fee monies for design
  • July: Applied for Safe Streets for All (SS4A) grant funding totaling $20 million for the corridor concept, which was not successful
  • Nov: City Council adopted a three-year Strategic Plan, which lists this project to secure funding and detailed design

2024

  • May: Re-applied for SS4A grant funding
  • Sept: Requesting City Council to accept State funding for stormwater improvement analysis and design, and to approve additional design work
  • Late: Complete Lincoln/Walnut intersection improvements
  • Late: Complete 65% design drawings for the corridor

2025

  • May: Complete design drawings and pre-construction work

2026

  • May: Begin construction

2027

  • May: Complete construction

2021

2022

2023

  • Jan 25: AC Transit Interagency Liaison Committee - presentation(PDF, 838KB)
  • Feb 15: Transportation Commission endorsed concept - presentation(PDF, 3MB) - staff report
  • April 18: Site tour at Lincoln/Marshall/Fifth - announcement
  • April 18: City Council endorsed the design concept and approved the consultant agreement for design - staff report
  • June 20: City Council accepted the Alameda County Transportation Commission grant funds for $567,000 and approved $1 million in Measure BB and Development Impact Fee monies for design - staff report

2024

  • Sept 17: Request City Council approval of State funding and design consultant amendment - staff report

 

 

 

Project Goals

For the Lincoln Avenue/Marshall Way/Pacific Avenue Improvements, the City seeks to:

  • Promote safety by prioritizing Vision Zero, which the City Council approved as a policy in 2019 to reduce traffic deaths and severe injuries to zero 
  • Improve mobility for all roadway users, including AC Transit buses
  • Improve pavement for better operations and user experience, and to reduce maintenance
  • Provide flood reduction and landscaping opportunities
  • Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by improving traffic flow and shifting to walking, bicycling and riding transit
  • Comply with City plans & policies including the City’s General Plan update and Draft Active Transportation Plan

Strategies

City staff/consultant team will consider various strategies to improve safety and mobility such as road diets and roundabouts as described below.

Road Diets

The reduction of motor vehicle travel lane(s) provides an opportunity to reallocate space for other uses such as bike lanes and a center two-way left-turn lane.  According to the Federal Highway Administration's informational guide(PDF, 2MB), streets with motor vehicle travel lane reductions have multiple benefits for people driving, walking and bicycling, such as:
  • Decreases vehicle travel lanes for pedestrians to cross;
  • Allows for better visibility of pedestrians waiting or attempting to cross the street;
  • Improves circulation for bicyclists when a bikeway is added;
  • Reduces rear-end, sideswipe and left-turn collisions by at least 19 percent and up to 47 percent through the use of a center two-way left-turn lane;
  • Improves speed limit compliance by three to five miles per hour, which reduces the severity of collisions; and
  • Improves travel flow since through vehicles are separated from left turning vehicles.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has a case studies document and additional resources.  FHWA Video and Fact Sheets are as follows:

Roundabouts

Roundabouts reduce the types of crashes where people are seriously hurt or killed by up to 78 percent when compared to signalized intersections.  Roundabouts result in lower vehicle speeds around the roundabout.  Crashes that occur will be less severe because of this reduced speed and the more “sideswipe” nature of crashes.  Pedestrians are generally safer at roundabouts, and are faced with simpler decisions at a time. Videos and presentations on roundabouts are as follows: