Hello John,
We spoke yesterday at the Albany Pedestrian Master Plan discussion forum. I am writing to summarize our discussion and to introduce you to a number of additional interested community members. Everyone mentioned below has had multiple conversations about traffic in our neighborhood and has indicated they wish to be involved in this process. I am sending this email to everyone mentioned and also to our Tot Lot “Events” discussion list.
The meeting last night was attended by:
Laurie, Rochelle, Sheri, Art, Jules and myself, Ulan McKnight.
Our partners are also interested:
Michael, Robert, Sam, Andrea, Kent and Margaret.
Additional neighborhood interest includes:
Susan, Simone, David, Jane, Susan, Leah, Leslie, Beth, Kristin, David, Laura, Tenisha, Roxana, David, Anita, Dan, Amy, Teresa, Will, Deena, Hokulani, Michelle, Evan, Tiffany, Joanna, Dan and Tsan.
Rochelle lives at Polk and Buchanan and mentioned that about 20 children live within a one block radius. To cross to the Ocean View Park, they must walk East two blocks to cross with the light at Jackson. A number of children travel to the Teen Center and the connected children’s playground which is one block West of Polk. This adds 5 blocks to a 1 block journey.
Rochelle was asking for a way to cross at Taylor Street.
You spoke about a (fully funded!) new bike path. The proposed path starts at the terminus of the existing one at Pierce. A new stop light would be placed to facilitate crossing from the North side of Buchanan to the beginning of the new path on the South side of Buchanan. If I heard you correctly, the proposed path will run from Pierce straight along Buchanan to San Pablo and Marin.
You also spoke of a newly envisioned bike and walking trail inspired by the one on the Ohlone Greenway which would run from 6th Street, through the Albany Village on Kinkead Way, expand the existing walking path along the West side of Ocean View Park and terminate at Taylor Street.
This termination would see a newly installed “2-way” stop that would allow pedestrians and bicyclists to cross to the median and then wait for traffic to stop before they crossed the second section of Buchanan.
You mentioned that there is a desire NOT to put a full traffic light at Taylor as a new one is already proposed for Pierce and Buchanan. In addition, the proposal would cut off access to Cleveland Ave. from Buchanan thereby forcing traffic to travel North at Pierce and West at Solano in order to reach Cleveland.
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This Kinkead Way path would cross a renovated Codornices Creek and new path running East/West along the southern border of the Village. The new Codornices Creek path is specifically designed to carry pedestrian and bike traffic between the Village and Dartmouth Street.
Art advocated for a way to cross the train tracks to connect the Village and 2nd Street (Target).
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A discussion was had about making Cornell Ave. a walking and bike-friendly street all the way through Albany. You mentioned that Albany has a desire to create friendlier ways North to South for pedestrians and bicyclists. Sheri asked for a better way to cross Marin at Cornell. I saw a note on the map about a possible “flashing light” at this intersection.
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My main reason for attending was to speak about traffic calming on Dartmouth Street. As we discussed, Dartmouth is currently the main cut-through for automobile traffic trying to avoid congestion on both San Pablo Ave. and Masonic Ave. We experience dangerous conditions during rush hour, especially on Fridays. As both San Pablo and Masonic fill, traffic flow more than doubles and vehicle speeds increase substantially. This increase in speed is our major concern.
Dartmouth is also the preferred route for walkers and bicyclists who travel to and from the Village. The central hub of our little community is the Tot Lot located at Talbot and Dartmouth. The small park experiences constant use by our youngest children.
We advocated strongly, and eventually won, a stop sign at this corner. As you pointed out, traffic studies have shown that when traffic stops for a stop sign it often speeds up to make up the lost time. This is definitely true for our neighborhood as we regularly see cars travelling way to fast as they speed away from the stop sign. This is especially dangerous for a number of our children who play and often cross one block away at the corner of Cornell. We purchased four Visual Warning Signal markers and spread them throughout the block specifically to warn drivers that children are present.
Laurie and I spoke about the desire to make Dartmouth a one-way street for the one block from Kains heading West and for the one block from Evelyn heading East. This would allow vehicle traffic to leave but not enter Dartmouth. No cars would be allowed to turn onto Dartmouth from San Pablo or Masonic. Cars would be able to leave from Dartmouth onto San Pablo and Masonic.
Additional traffic calming measure could include traffic circles. You mentioned that Seattle has installed hundreds of them as a successful city policy to slow traffic on residential streets. We are open to anything that will slow traffic speeds on Dartmouth.
We would love for Dartmouth to become a “Pedestrian Priority” street where people feel free to play and congregate. We have created a strong and cohesive community that would thrive if we could slow the vehicle traffic on our street. We already congregate on the sidewalks in front of our houses. We would welcome the ability to spill out into a slower, safer Dartmouth Street.
Copenhagen’s Car-Free Streets & Slow-Speed Zones
Shared Spaces: The Ultimate Public Realm
Copenhagens Climate-Friendly, Bike-Friendly Streets
Thank you again for all your support. Please let me know how I can help to further the transformation of Albany into a more pedestrian and bicycle-friendly town with more open spaces for people to meet and enjoy each others company.