Reso 2001-020 RDA 2001-002 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Chapter II -Capital Improvement Projects II. Capital Improvement Projects Capital improvement projects focus on connections between the BART sta- tion, Downtown San Leandro, and adjacent neighborhood areas. Most of the projects include new landscape materials, and a strong City commitment to maintenance of these materials will be required. San Leandro Boulevard Within the Strategy Area only, San Leandro Boulevard is seven lanes in width; 3 travel lanes in each direction and a center left turn lane. Curb to curb width is approximately 90'. The street is generally unattractive with little in the way of curbside landscaping. "Cobra head" highway-scale lights line the street, and where medians exist they are narrow with minimal landscaping. Pedes- trian crossing distances are long and signalized crossing times are short. This creates a difficult situation for the elderly and/or those with mobility prob- lems; i.e., if pedestrians do not make the crossing within the allotted time, they are stranded adjacent to a very narrow median with fast moving traffic to either side. North and south of the Strati gy Area (north of San Leandro Creek and south of Williams Street, respectively), San Leandro Boulevard is only five lanes in width. The City's current traffic counts and its modeling of future traffic lev- els indicate that a seven lane roadway is not necessary. The street's excess capacity encourages speeding, which is a deterrent to pedestrians and is un- safe for motorists as well. The Phase I study offered two approaches for narrowing the street to a five- lane cross section between San Leandro Creek and Williams Street -bringing the curbs in along the sides of the street or creating a wide center median. The main advantage of narrowing from the sides of the street is the addi- tionalfrontage and landscape area that could be provided to buffer new front- age development, particularly along the east side of the street. Pedestrian crossing distances would be reduced significantly, by up to 24' or over 25%. The main disadvantage is cost; moving curbs requires major engineering modifications to the curbside storm drainage system as well as reconstruc- tion of curbs, gutters, driveways, and relocation of existing curbside lighting. Median widening is the preferred approach. While a landscaped median does not offer the frontage buffering provided by curbside narrowing, it can be a significantly more dramatic streetscape feature, creating an attractive and dramatic entrance to the City from BART. In addition, no major changes to the storm drainage system are required, and curb and gutter construction is ~'~_.,. rl. ,. -n Y-. 1' R h` 2 ~_ 4 ~ _ o.-> ~. ~. _ ~ lY ~,~ ~_ r ~~ ~' ~.. ~~' New, wider medians will slow traffic and enhance pedestrian crossings. confined to the center of the street, reducing coordination requirements and frontage improvements related to adjacent properties. The proposed median includes a single species of flowering tree planted in a double row, at approximately 30' on center; recommended trees choices in- clude crape myrtle, kwanzan cherry, or flowering pear. Low-growing groundcover or shrubs are recommended as a surface material to maintain motorist and pedestrian visibility and a generally open streetscape character - 18 - At seven lanes, San Leandro Boulevard has excess capacity.