Sutter Health Hospital Project

The proposed Sutter Health regional medical complex in Emeryville is slated for construction from 2028 to 2033 at the 12-acre site between Horton St., Hollis St., Stanford Ave., and 53rd St. The project includes a 17-story hospital with a helipad, several medical and administrative buildings, workforce housing, and a garage within the project’s Horton St., Hollis St., Stanford Ave., and 53rd St. boundaries.

The project will also add an estimated 20,000 vehicle trips per day to the area.

How will this affect Golden Gate?

Sutter’s plan relies on Golden Gate’s arterials—53rd Street, Stanford and San Pablo Avenues—for access to the complex by emergency vehicles, patients, and staff. Key public concerns center on the potential environmental impacts associated with the increased traffic and five+ years of heavy construction, including hazardous road conditions, noise from ambulance traffic and helicopters, and air pollution.

What you can do: Attend the Community Forum on Sutter Health’s Impacts

Join GGCA for a timely discussion on the City of Oakland’s plans to address the environmental impacts on our neighborhood from the Sutter Health project with:

• ​District 1 Councilperson Zac Unger
• ​William Gilchrist, Director of Planning & Building, the department responsible for providing input to project’s Environment Impact Report (EIR) process now underway.

 

• See the EIR Notice of Preparation for the City of Emeryville’s project description and its potential environmental impacts.

What’s next:

Councilmember Zac Unger and City staff have agreed to GGCA’s request for a community engagement event regarding the City of Oakland’s official input into the EIR process.  We’ll keep you posted on event details. In the meantime you can:

• Respond to the EIR Notice of Preparation by September 14. This week, we’ll offer guidance on how submit the NOP.
• Attend the EIR Scoping Session on August 27, 6:30 p.m. to verbally submit your input for inclusion in the EIR.  Location: Emeryville Civic Center, 1333 Park Avenue.

More about potential traffic impacts

1. San Pablo Avenue/Stanford Avenue Corridor
This corridor is already on Oakland’s 2024 High Injury Network and is one of the most dangerous in our city, yet the planned investments in District 1 by the Oakland Department of Transportation (OakDOT) do not include funded safety improvements on Stanford Avenue outside of two bike crossings. There are no speed cushions along several long stretches of Stanford Avenue. Signal enforcement at multiple intersections is virtually absent.  OakDOT has deployed speed safety cameras throughout the High Injury Network, but none are located on Stanford Avenue despite the corridor’s alarming safety problems:

 

• Speeding well above the posted speed limit, including racing incidents exceeding 100 miles per hour
• High-speed vehicle collisions
• Sideshows at intersections that block vehicular, pedestrian, bicycle, and emergency traffic
• Blatant running of red lights without stopping for pedestrians in crosswalks

2. 53rd Street Corridor
This corridor is a heavily traveled east-west route for vehicular and bicycle traffic to and from Emeryville because it is the only through street crossing San Pablo Avenue between Stanford Avenue and 40th Street. Safety concerns exist along every segment of this corridor:

• Adeline Street to San Pablo Avenue: This narrow stretch requires vehicles to drive slowly and give way to larger vehicles moving in the opposite direction.
• San Pablo Avenue intersection: This offset intersection is difficult and dangerous to navigate, especially during peak traffic periods.
• West of San Pablo Avenue: The first block is divided between the two cities, with Emeryville’s Anna Yates Elementary School and eastbound traffic on the south side, and Oakland residences and westbound traffic on the north side. This residential Oakland side of the street would become a direct access route for vehicles traveling to the Sutter Health complex two blocks away.

    Traffic chaos at Anna Yates Elementary School during daily drop-off and pick-up periods include:

• Blocked driveways: Parents routinely park in front of or directly across the driveways of five to six homes. Drivers frequently leave their vehicles unattended while escorting their children onto campus. This occurs daily, often multiple times per day.
• Contentious exchanges: School parents frequently refuse residents’ requests to move their vehicles from driveways. Confrontations have also occurred among school parents.
• Child safety risks: Young students frequently cross the street outside designated crosswalks, weaving between bicyclists and moving vehicles.
• Congestion: Through traffic regularly comes to a standstill during drop-off and pickup periods, preventing Oakland residents from entering or exiting their driveways and accessing street parking.
• Dangerous passing maneuvers: During peak periods, drivers often pass vehicles by entering the opposing lane of traffic or perform three-point turns while traveling westbound.

3. Sutter Health-bound traffic routes from Highway 24  

• From 51st Street and MLK Jr. Way: Traffic turns west at 55th Street, which is already a dangerous intersection, to a route with the following issues:
  • Backup in the left turn lane to 55^th during peak traffic hours
  • Speeding on 55^th Street and failure to stop at Adeline Street T junction before turning left
  • Traffic hazards and illegal double parking at the CloudKitchens (on Adeline from 54^th-53^rd Streets), which have been repeatedly reported to the City but not mitigated.
• From Telegraph Avenue and 56^th Street: Traffic turns right on Telegraph right to 55^th Street (see 55^th-53^rd issues above).