City Studying Alcatraz Crosswalk, Not Top Priority

The city of Oakland is reviewing a request for a high-visibility crosswalk across Alcatraz Avenue at the frequently used crossing with Hillegass Avenue, a city spokeswoman said, adding that the city faces a large backlog of needs that also have to be considered.

Terence Doherty, who lives next to the intersection, submitted a request to the city for a crosswalk on Alcatraz.

"There is a need for the crosswalk, because of the large numbers of pedestrians (children and adults) who frequently cross Alcatraz at this juncture," Doherty told Patch by email. "The crosswalk would lead to greater visibility for pedestrians and would encourage drivers to yield."

"The crosswalk at this site was proposed as part of the Caldecott 4th bore mitigation, a few years back, but that did not occur," he said.

The request was submitted in November, and the city began evaluating the proposal last month, said Kristine Shaff, spokeswoman for the Oakland Public Works Agency.

"It usually takes a number of weeks before we investigate," she told Patch Friday. "We have a huge backlog."

Alcatraz is a local east-west arterial street, and Hillegass is a north-south residential street that connects Berkeley's Elmwood district and Claremont Avenue in Oakland. The intersection is also about two and a half blocks from Peralta Elementary School.

The city is conducting traffic counts and other tests, including measuring vehicle speed, Shaff said.

Adding a crosswalk is not simply painting lines on the street and is more difficult and expensive than it may initially appear, Shaff said.

Compounding the problem is the fact that Hillegass doesn't go directly across but jogs some distance where it crosses Alcatraz, she said. In such a configuration, transportation engineers need to consider whether a diagonal crosswalk would need to be installed instead a perpendicular one that might conflict with a bus stop, fire hydrant clearance, parking space or red zone, Shaff said.

At the same time, she stressed, federal law requires that any new crosswalk project include upgrading the curb cuts to the most recent ADA standards (Americans with Disabilities Act). She said existing curb cuts often do not meet current standards.

"We can't put in a new crosswalk until we put in new ADA-compliant curb ramps," she said.

She said the city has several hundred high-traffic crossings in the city on the upgrade list, and that there is already a backlog at schools, senior centers, churches, hospitals and other higher-priority locations.

She said the review of the Alcatraz crossing is "going through the process" and that the city recognizes that pedestrian safety is an important concern. She also noted that it is legal for pedestrians to cross the street without a crosswalk, unless there are traffic signals on both ends of the block where one seeks to cross. She noted that it is legal now to cross Alcatraz at Hillegass without a crosswalk.

She also cautioned that there are limits to what the city can do.

"We're seriously underfunded for what needs to happen," she said. "It's difficult to satisfy everyone."

A number of residents of the area believe a crosswalk is needed.

"My neighborhood feels VERY strongly that a crosswalk at Alcatraz and Hillegass is necessary to prevent tragedy," Elise Perelman told Patch in an email. "Some folks who wrote to me have lived here for over 10 years and have always thought that was a dangerous intersection. Doctors who work in public health cited safety concerns, the president of the Parent Teacher Group at Peralta (located right on Alcatraz) wrote in citing concerns for children, bicycle commuters, and just plain neighborhood folks who've lived here either a short or long while know who dangerous that intersection is."

Messages about the crosswalk proposal that Perelman posted on two local online groups generated an "astounding" response, she said.

"I do hope it generates change in our lovely neighborhood, creating a safer place for the citizens of Oakland," she said.

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