Mecartney Road/Island Drive Improvement Project

Announcement: The Transportation Commission recommended City Council approval of a roundabout concept on March 23, 2022: draft concept(PDF, 7MB), presentation(PDF, 4MB), video and staff report.  Please refer to the "Town Hall" tab below for recordings of the December 2021 community workshop and an educational presentation on roundabouts.  The City Council was asked to approve the roundabout concept on July 5 as a consent item #5-F; however, the agenda item was withdrawn.

 

For more information on the Mecartney/Island Improvement Project, please refer to the below "Details" tab.

Correspondence: For project updates via email, please subscribe directly here.  For other project information, please contact Gail Payne, Senior Transportation Coordinator, at gpayne@alamedaca.gov or 510-747-6892.

如需中文协助，请致电 510-747-6892 进行预约。Rú xū zhōngwén xiézhù, qǐng zhìdiàn 510-747-6892 jìnxíng yùyuē.

Para obtener asistencia en español, llame al 510-747-7939.

This planning effort is funded by Measures B and BB transportation sales tax dollars, which are administered by the Alameda County Transportation Commission.

Image shows roundabout optionImage shows reduced footprint all-way stop

Project Goals: For the Mecartney Road/Island Drive 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.
  • Be consistent with the 2040 General Plan goals:
    • Vision Zero. To eliminate fatalities and severe injuries on Alameda’s streets, avenues, sidewalks, crosswalks, paths, and trails.
    • Intersection Safety. To improve safety at stop-controlled or signalized intersections, consider a roundabout design.
    • Roundabouts and Traffic Circles. When considering modification to an intersection, prioritize roundabouts and traffic circles for consideration.
  • Improve mobility for all modes, including AC Transit buses and trucks.
  • Comply with existing policies and plans, including the City’s Draft Active Transportation Plan.
  • Provide landscaping, art and flood reduction opportunities.
  • Reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Preliminary Findings: City staff and consultants considered the following potential improvement options: roundabout, reduced footprint all-way stop, “do nothing,” and traffic signal as stated in the November 2021 evaluation memo(PDF, 9MB).  The analysis ruled out a traffic signal as a recommended next step due to increased delay and lower anticipated safety performance.  City staff and consultants recommend advancing the roundabout.  The roundabout would improve operations and mobility, would reduce the footprint of the intersection relative to existing conditions, would provide landscaping and flood reduction opportunities, and would improve safety and quality of service for all road users.
 
Roundabouts: Roundabouts reduce the types of crashes where people are seriously hurt or killed by up to 78 percent when compared to conventional stop-controlled and signalized intersections.  Roundabouts result in lower vehicle speeds, generally 10-15 miles per hour, 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:

2015

2019

  • Completed evaluation with preliminary recommendation as a roundabout.

2021

  • Summer/Fall: Analyze 2019 initial roundabout findings.
  • November/December: Conduct online survey.
  • Dec 1: Conduct virtual community workshop on potential intersection improvements.

2022

  • March 2: Bay Farm School PTA meeting.
  • March 15: Earhart School PTA meeting.
  • March 23: Transportation Commission recommended City Council approval of the Mecartney/Island roundabout concept. 
  • July 5: Seek City Council approval of Mecartney/Island roundabout concept and direction on next steps (agenda item was withdrawn).

2021

2022

Progress

Recommendation for a roundabout concept - Transportation Commission approved on March 23, 2022.

More Information

Learn more information on this project from the City's Capital Budget.

Capital Budget Project Sheet(PDF, 878KB) (2021-23 CIP)

Capital Budget Project Sheet(PDF, 132KB) (2015-17 CIP)

 

Funding

The initial analysis is funded by Measures B/BB monies totaling $300,000, and design/construction could be funded by potential grants and TIFF monies.

 

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