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The city of Livermore has reached a new milestone in its “Tactical East Avenue” initiative with the help of volunteers who installed pilot pedestrian safety improvements in the area last week. However, not all of the public feedback about the project has been positive.
The initiative is part of the ongoing East Avenue Corridor Study to enhance mobility and safety along East Avenue between South Livermore Avenue and South Vasco Road — an area identified as a priority corridor in the Livermore Active Transportation Plan.
From April 10-14, community volunteers were hard at work painting crosswalks and curb extensions and installing signage, among other tasks from Maple Street to Hillcrest Avenue. On the last day, the city hosted a grand-opening event to celebrate the new improvements at East Avenue Middle School.
The event was attended by city officials, community members, volunteers and the project team.
The newly placed safety measures will be evaluated for six months at the East Avenue intersections of Maple Street, 7th Street, Dolores Street, Jensen Street, Estates Street and Hillcrest Avenue. During the evaluation period, the city will monitor the project, collect data and solicit public feedback to determine how the project is functioning, according to the project website.
The process the city is following is derived from Tactical Urbanism, a method of place-making that uses low-cost, temporary materials to offer the city and community members the opportunity to experience potential changes to the street before permanent improvements are made.
In the days since the installation was completed, some residents have expressed concerns about the measures via social media.
One social media critic, Ben Gordon, is a Livermore resident who frequently rides his bike to and from work. He shared his grievances in a community group on Facebook as well as in an interview with Livermore Vine.
Gordon said he commutes by bicycle from his home downtown to his job on Vasco Road and often travels down the entirety of East Avenue. “I agree completely with the foundation of the project,” he said, noting that there is a need to improve conditions for pedestrians and cyclists in the area as it can be a harrowing journey to navigate. However, he is concerned about the “piecemeal” way that the new measures have been implemented.
“It’s a good first step for pedestrians but their website made it seem like the project was meant to take into account cyclist and pedestrian safety on the same level,” Gordon said, adding that the current improvements as they stand now only benefit pedestrians but actually make it less safe for cyclists.
Specifically, Gordon addressed “a string of bollards” that he says make the lanes more narrow and difficult to navigate by bike. He also said that while the new curb extensions “on their face are a great idea,” they create another obstacle for bicycles that have to go around the extensions that they cannot ride through.
“It’s really unsafe for a cyclist to have to leave the shoulder and enter the flow of traffic to get around the extended curbs. So, I agree that something needs to be done but I think the piecemeal approach has made an unsafe environment for cyclists,” he said.
Motorists on social media have also expressed frustration about the curb extensions, citing increased difficulty in making turns.
Gordon noted that he’s only lived in Livermore since last August, so he didn’t participate in the first phase of the East Avenue Corridor Study that included public outreach prior to the new measures being installed but he said he had previously read through the “Tactical East Avenue” website and got the impression that pedestrian and cyclist safety would be prioritized equally.
He said that while he thinks and hopes that improvements for cyclists will come down the line as part of the project, he’s concerned about how the next six months are going to play out with the current measures in place.
Although he plans to continue riding his bike to work, Gordon said he may consider alternative routes to avoid the parts of East Avenue where the new measures are installed in consideration for his safety.
More information about the project is available at www.eastavecorridorstudy.com.
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