Albany staff, UC and consultants present conceptual design for Jackson Street bikeway; commissioners raise school connectivity, visibility and utility concerns

City staff and a consultant presented a conceptual design for a Jackson Street bikeway that would extend a shared-use path along the east side of Jackson Street through University Village to Buchanan Street and transition to on-street bicycle facilities south of Monroe.

The design, presented by Anthony Goral of Zune Engineering, would use a widened 8-foot off-street path with 2-foot buffers and a fence shift along UC-owned frontage, convert angled parking to parallel parking (removing roughly nine vehicle spaces), and add marked mixing zones, bike boxes at Buchanan and other striping and signage changes. The project is being advanced in coordination with the Alameda County Transportation Commission (Alameda CTC) under a memorandum of understanding; some construction was completed in 2024 as part of an American Campus Communities (ACC) housing development.

Commissioners and members of the public raised repeated concerns about how the path would connect to Ocean View Elementary and about site-specific visibility and hazard issues. Carrie Shulman, a parent who said she bikes her child to school daily, urged the commission to add a direct connection to the school and to improve a northbound crossing that currently forces riders to use a less-safe roadway gap. "The school is kind of an island, and the bike path goes around it, never actually connecting with the school," Shulman said.

Consultant Anthony Goral and city staff said the off-street connection to the school is a future phase that would require additional right-of-way work; the current concept focuses on alignment through UC frontage, curb ramp upgrades, and signing/striping. Staff said curb ramp designs are not finalized and will follow the city's guidance and applicable accessibility standards.

Public commenters and several commissioners also pressed the project team about utility cabinets and poles along the Gill Tract frontage. Goral said a few electrical pull boxes and a service cabinet likely will need relocation; other cabinets west of the path may remain in place. "We're going to have to move a couple of them to kind of get them out of the way," he said, adding staff will evaluate relocations and cost in a future design phase. Commissioners suggested tucking relocated cabinets behind the shifted fence where possible.

Commissioners asked staff to consider a few refinements if feasible within available funding: extend the red thermoplastic mixing zone farther east as an advance warning; add an additional off-ramp that would feed directly into a bike box at the Buchanan intersection; and, where possible, substitute colored concrete rather than thermoplastic surface treatments to avoid wear and slipperiness when wet. Several commissioners also suggested installing conduit or considering solar lighting for future pathway illumination, and staff said conduit installation could be considered but may not fit the current budget.

Staff said federal funding is involved and that the project must clear environmental review and a right-of-way agreement with the university and Caltrans before construction. Staff gave a target of summer 2026 for construction after environmental clearance, and said the project will advance in phases: completing the off-street path north to Buchanan, improving striping and signing through the ACC-built segment, and later advancing the off-street connection south of Monroe.

The presentation closed as an informational item; commissioners provided comments but did not take a vote. Staff said they will return with more detailed design materials and will incorporate the commission's requests about utility relocations, curb ramp details, school connectivity and materials selection into future project phases.

Ending: The commission directed staff to continue coordination with UC, Alameda CTC and Caltrans, and to return with refined design options that address school access, utility relocations and curb ramp details before advancing final design and environmental clearance.