The San Pablo Avenue Corridor Project

Updated August ‘23. The current most-recent update on this project is the ACTC project update from August 2023.

Bus & protected bike lanes planned

On March 14 2022, ACTC (Alameda County Transportation Commission) voted to approve bus lanes and protected bike lanes on San Pablo Ave, to improve public safety, speed up service for riders, and sustain projected growth along the corridor.

Bus lanes and protected bike lanes will run on San Pablo Ave from 16th Street in Downtown Oakland, through Emeryville, through the Golden Gate District, up to Heinz Street in South Berkeley.  This decision is based on multi-year public engagement effort with residents and businesses that wrapped up this past winter.

Next steps for ACTC:

  • Secure significant funding for construction
  • Gather additional resident feedback on design plans in Fall/winter ’23 (check here for updates).
  • Begin construction in Spring ’26 (to be complete by Winter ’28)

The long-term San Pablo Corridor Project stretches from Downtown Oakland to Richmond with a completion date of 2040.

Why San Pablo Ave? San Pablo Avenue is one of the streets with the most vehicle collisions and injuries in Alameda County. It has some of the highest bus ridership in the county, but traffic leads to slow and unreliable transit service. Although it is a frequently used bicycle route, it is dangerous for bike riders.

Project summary

Project Phase 1: ACTC conducted community outreach from 2017-2019, presenting four design options to residents and businesses along the corridor (this included meeting with Golden Gate residents). See 2.2 Summary of Concepts on the Phase 1 Summary Report. Phase 1 research found that most surveyed residents in Oakland and Emeryville preferred Concept A, which included dedicated bus and bicycle lanes (ACTC is recommending Concept B for Berkeley and Albany).

Project Phase 2: In early 2022, project staff gathered feedback on the proposed design directly from storefront businesses on San Pablo Avenue, to understand how project changes might impact their business, and to make adjustments if necessary.

With support from Golden Gate Community Association (GGCA) and other nearby community groups,  ACTC performed a series of focus groups with residents who live along the corridor, to understand resident perspectives at a deeper level.