Thank you for reporting your concerns about street safety in Alameda. We appreciate your input and hear your concern. We mourn for the person who was killed so senselessly by a suspected intoxicated driver on Fernside. An update with more information about the crash is available here: https://www.alamedaca.gov/Shortcut-Content/News-Media/INVESTIGATION-UNDERWAY-AFTER-DRIVER-IS-KILLED-BY-SUSPECTED-DUI-DRIVER

The City is dedicated to increasing traffic safety on our most dangerous streets, with a goal to eliminate tragic traffic deaths like the one that occurred on Fernside on Monday. We use high injury corridor maps, supplemented by equity indicators and community feedback, to prioritize our limited resources on locations where street safety improvements can make the biggest difference. More information is at these links:
• High Injury Corridor maps: www.alamedaca.gov/VisionZero#section-4
• Socially vulnerable areas map (see p. 9): https://www.alamedaca.gov/files/assets/public/departments/alameda/transportation/vision-zero/visionzeroactionplan_draft_7-12-2021v2.pdf
• Community-reported Street Safety Concerns: www.alamedaca.gov/VisionZero#section-7

Based on 2009-2018 crash data, Fernside from Tilden Avenue to High Street is a Tier 3 (least bad) high injury corridor. It is not in an area of high social vulnerability. However, we have heard concerns about speeding over the years and responded with many safety improvements. The City has installed these improvements approved by the Transportation Commission in November 2012:
• Installed speed feedback signs on Fernside between Fremont Drive and Yale Drive.
• Installed rapid flashing beacons and curb extensions on Fernside at Versailles Avenue.
• Removed one parking space at the southeast corner of Versailles Avenue at Fernside.
• Restriped Fernside between High Street and Cornell Drive to provide a left-turn lane and one through lane at east leg and eliminate the merge on west leg.
• Installed additional red curb to improve visibility on Fernside at Harvard Drive.

In addition to these improvements, in 2020 and 2021 the City implemented these safety improvements on Fernside from Tilden Avenue to High Street:
• Installed rapid flashing beacons, new striping, and signage at Fernside and Harvard Drive.
• On Fernside and High Street, installed leading pedestrian interval; prohibited turns on red for southbound High; upgraded to high visibility crosswalks, including one new marked crosswalk and one realigned crosswalk; installed an advance stop bar for Gibbons Drive right turn and a 50 foot centerline for Gibbons.
• At Fernside and Versailles Avenue, added a new marked crosswalk leg; refreshed crosswalk, bulb-out, and bike lane striping; daylit the intersection; and added new bike lane signage.
• Installed high visibility crosswalk markings at Fernside and Tilden/Blanding/Pearl.

Many community members remain concerned about speeding on this corridor, and some have expressed interest in removing Fernside’s center turn lane to discourage illegal passing and speeding. The City can consider the idea when we resurface Fernside’s pavement in the coming years, as restriping would be included in resurfacing. Current pavement management maps are kept on the Building Safer Streets webpage: https://www.alamedaca.gov/Departments/Public-Works-Department/Building-Safer-Streets#section-5

Whether or not Fernside’s final restriping includes removal of the center turn lane, the lane widths, bike lanes, crosswalk markings, and intersection daylighting will be designed to conform to the City’s current street safety policies: www.alamedaca.gov/VisionZero#section-6

Additional changes to the intersection of Fernside and Blanding Avenue will be determined as part of the Clement Avenue/Tilden Way project: https://www.alamedaca.gov/Departments/Planning-Building-and-Transportation/Transportation/Clement-Avenue-ExtensionTilden-Way

Finally, the Active Transportation Plan draft recommendations show Fernside from Thompson Avenue to Tilden Way being upgraded from a standard bike lane to a buffered bike lane (the rest of Fernside already has buffered or separated bike lanes): https://www.activealameda.org/Recommendations#section-3

The full draft Active Transportation Plan should be released in spring 2022. Stay involved by joining the mailing list: https://www.alamedaca.gov/Subscribe

You can use the same link to join the Vision Zero mailing list, which receives street safety updates every other month.

Again, thank you for sharing your concerns as we work to increase safety on Alameda’s streets.