Title
East Bay Regional Park District Update on Access to Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline
Staffreport
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This item updates the Facilities & Transportation Committee on East Bay Regional Park District’s plans to enhance public access to Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline. This item is for information only.
BACKGROUND
In December of 2013, the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) adopted a Land Use Plan Amendment (LUPA) for Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline, a 194-acre public park located atop a former landfill immediately west of the Waste Management transfer facility at the end of Davis Street. As of 2015, only 19 acres of the park were open to the public. This LUPA updated the District’s original 1977 Land Use Development Plan that was drafted upon acquisition of the property. The LUPA designated Davis Street as the primary park entrance with the following recommendations:
• “Construct a 28-foot wide entry road with an 8 to 10-foot wide multi-use trail at the Davis Street park entrance. Provide landscape buffers and/or slatted fencing along the roadway edges to serve as a visual screen from the adjacent San Leandro Rifle and Pistol Range and the Waste Management transfer facility.”
• “Designate the Neptune Drive entrance as an Emergency and Maintenance Vehicle Access and public walk-in access, and connect it to the main vehicular roadway inside the park extending from the Davis Street entrance.”
• “Increase Oyster Bay’s maximum parking capacity from 100 vehicles to 700 vehicles.”
Since the LUPA was adopted, the EBRPD has been receiving and placing soil at the park with the goal of covering the former landfill area with soil onto which future park amenities will be built. The soil hauling operation has utilized Davis Street as its primary truck route, although for the past several months empty trucks have exited at Neptune Drive due to logistical issues with the fill operation.
Analysis
The EBRPD is now reconsidering the LUPA original description for the primary park access. Instead of designating Davis Street as the primary park entrance, the EBRPD is requesting input from the City on designating Neptune Drive as the primary park entrance. The primary park entrance would serve vehicle traffic, bicyclists, and pedestrians providing access to the planned parking lots, trail network, and the Bay Trail. Davis Street would only provide access for emergency vehicles, maintenance vehicles, and could allow special event egress. This alternative proposal is based on the EBRPD’s design process identifying the following conditions:
• The Davis Street cul-de-sac has several side-by-side driveways that serve neighboring/adjoining uses including the Waste Management transfer facility, Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline, the San Leandro Rifle and Pistol Range, the Alameda County storm drain pump facility, and the San Leandro Water Pollution Control Plant. Additional traffic generated by the public’s use of Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline will increase congestion, and will cause pedestrians, bicyclists, and passenger cars to compete with heavy truck traffic for roadway space.
• The EBRPD’s entryway extending west from the Davis Street driveway is bound on the south by the Waste Management fence and on the north by the Rifle and Pistol Range facility. A joint utility pole and overhead electrical wires operated by PG&E also exists within this narrow entry area. The entryway width is so narrow that the road proposed in the LUPA would be challenging to construct without compromising the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists. An entry road with sufficient width would require additional property acquisition from Waste Management and/or special resource agency permitting (San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, Army Corps of Engineers, Fish & Wildlife, etc.) for construction and fill within the adjoining estuary.
To explore alternatives to the Davis Street primary entrance, the EBRPD commissioned an updated traffic study from Kittleson & Associates, the same consultant who performed an analysis in 2012. Kittelson produced a Technical Memorandum titled “Oyster Bay Regional Park TIA Update” dated October 7, 2019. The memorandum evaluated Neptune Drive as the primary entrance with specific focus on potential traffic impacts at four intersections:
• Davis Street & Doolittle Drive
• Williams Street & Doolittle Drive
• Marina Boulevard & Doolittle Drive
• Williams Street & Neptune Drive
Based on the updated analysis, all four intersections would continue to operate at acceptable service levels resulting from typical weekday and weekend park usage. The EBRPD does, however, make regional parks available for special events on Saturdays and Sundays, subject to City use permit restrictions. Examples may include an organized Frisbee golf tournament or summer concert. During special events, two of the intersections are expected to experience significant adverse impacts. The impacts and recommended mitigations are described below.
The Williams Street at Doolittle Drive intersection will have additional delays for those traveling eastbound when leaving the park because only one lane serves right-turn, left-turn, and through movements. The Level of Service (LOS) for this intersection would degrade from A (very good) to E (poor). The City’s 2035 General Plan set LOS D as the minimum acceptable service level for intersections in this area (Action T-5.2.A). To mitigate this impact, the EBRPD recommends adding a left turn lane in combination with a shared through-right lane. The eastern and western legs of the intersection are sufficiently wide to allow this restriping. The EBRPD also recommends that a traffic control officer guide traffic through the intersection. City staff recommend a permanent solution by installing protected/permissive left turn arrows at the traffic signal, an improvement estimated to cost approximately $200,000.
The Williams Street and Neptune Drive intersection will have similar delays by the current three-way stop control, with service degradation from A (very good) to F (very poor). The Kittleson study recommends removal of the stop controls for northbound and southbound Neptune Drive, while maintaining the stop control for westbound Williams Street. While this change would alleviate lengthy queues of exiting vehicles, it may also encourage cut-through traffic into the residential neighborhood to the south. The EBRPD believes cut-through traffic can be prevented by stationing a traffic control officer at the intersection and/or installing regulatory signage.
Although the Kittelson analysis did not include this recommendation, City staff believe that for special events that one-way egress movements out on Davis Street should be allowed utilizing the existing fire and maintenance vehicle access road. This additional egress route would lessen the impacts on Neptune Drive and Williams Street by providing drivers with an alternative exit route during times of congestion. Conflicts with truck traffic would be minimized because Waste Management does not operate collection services on the weekends.
Current Agency Policies
• Support and implement programs, activities and strengthen communication that enhances the quality of life and wellness, celebrates the arts and diversity and promotes civic pride
Applicable General Plan Policies
• Action T-1.2.B: Traffic Analysis Requirements. Require traffic analyses for new development that will generate substantial volumes of traffic. Identify mitigation measures as appropriate to address impacts.
• Action T-5.2.A: New Evaluation Methodologies. Consistent with SB 743, implement new methodologies for evaluating and mitigating transportation impacts which are based on VMT rather than level of service (LOS). Until such methodologies are developed and adopted, the City will use the following minimum acceptable peak hour service standards for streets and intersections:
o LOS "D" for streets and intersections located outside of the designated Priority Development Areas (PDAs) in Downtown, Bay Fair, and East 14th Street.
• Action OSC-3.1.A: Update of Oyster Bay Park Plan Work with EBRPD to implement the Land Use Plan for Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline. The City will continue to work with EBRPD to maximize local benefits and minimize potential adverse impacts associated with future improvements.
• Policy OSC-3.5: City/ EBRPD Partnerships. Pursue partnerships and joint efforts with EBRPD to fund, build, and maintain recreational improvements that benefit San Leandro residents.
ATTACHMENTS
• Project Update: Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline Land Use Plan Amendment (2012)
• Kittelson & Associates Technical Memorandum, Oyster Bay Regional Park TIA Update, October 7, 2019
PREPARED BY: Michael Stella, P.E., Principal Engineer, Engineering & Transportation Department