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AC Transit's Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project is continuing through the planning stages. If it <br /> moves forward, it will occur after 2015, and its proposed dedicated bus lanes on East 14 Street <br /> between Georgia Way and the Oakland /San Leandro City limits are compatible with the City's <br /> project. A review of the final environmental document will provide input on whether there will <br /> be dedicated bus lanes within San Leandro. <br /> DISCUSSION <br /> Staff sent before and after plans with and without the BRT project, a neighborhood meeting <br /> notice and a questionnaire to about 3,600 residents and merchants. The outreach provided the <br /> community with the opportunity to ask questions and provide comments about the restriping <br /> project before construction commences. Throughout this community process, staff focused its <br /> efforts on addressing the community's concerns. Citizens, especially those who attended the <br /> community meetings and /or received direct responses from staff, have also gained a better <br /> understanding of the project and its objective. <br /> The neighborhood meeting (open house) was held on November 16, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. in the <br /> Helen Lawrence South Offices Conference Room. Approximately 25 citizens attended. Staff <br /> addressed all of the issues presented at the meeting. In addition, staff received questions and <br /> comments from twelve individuals via the City's website, email, returned questionnaire, and <br /> phone between October 26 and November 23, 2010. <br /> Recent community comments indicate that there are supporting, opposing, and neutral opinions <br /> about the project. Georgia Way residents are concerned that the northbound East 14 Street <br /> transition from two lanes to one lane will cause a bottleneck at the Georgia Way intersection and <br /> make access to and from the street more difficult and unsafe. Staff believes that no bottleneck <br /> will take place because the East 14` Street/Georgia Way intersection is a non - signalized <br /> intersection that will continue to allow traffic to flow. Additionally, with additional throughput <br /> on East 14 Street, the traffic signal can be set to allow more green time for the Dutton and Best <br /> approaches. Consequently, Georgia Way residents will see more gaps in traffic, which will allow <br /> easier access to or from East 14` Street. <br /> A couple of suggestions, including adding street bulb -outs (i.e., extended sidewalks at the <br /> intersection) to improve pedestrian traffic safety and better channelize vehicular traffic, will be <br /> explored with Caltrans for a possible future improvement project. <br /> Since this striping project will not change the street's hardscape, the project can still be <br /> considered as a temporary, testing project that can be further improved in the future. Staff <br /> believes that the East 14` Street Striping and Pedestrian Improvement Project provides a well <br /> balanced plan to address the top priorities identified by the community during the earlier outreach <br /> process. The priorities included: (1) Provide easier and safer left -turn access to side streets; (2) <br /> Provide easier and safer pedestrian crossings of East 14` Street; and (3) Provide for higher <br /> speeds on East I4` Street. <br /> • <br />