Albany transportation commissioners back Marin Avenue phase 2 plans with added lighting, signal upgrades

Albany’s Transportation Commission on Dec. 19 voted to recommend City Council approve plans for phase 2 of the Marin Avenue pavement and curb rehabilitation project, which staff said includes intersection safety lighting, upgrades to the Peralta Avenue traffic signal and a set of curb‑ramp and striping revisions.

The recommendation follows a staff presentation that described designs altered by shallow bedrock and subgrade instability, the need to add intersection lighting identified in a city lighting evaluation, and the decision to raise some sidewalks and corners rather than lower the roadway where construction would be difficult.

The update came from James Cirelli, associate engineer with the Public Works Department, who told the commission he and project staff revised the 2022 design after East Bay Municipal Utility District identified a need to replace water lines and crews discovered very shallow bedrock at several intersections. “We discovered we have very shallow bedrock,” Cirelli said. He explained that lowering intersections as originally planned would be “very expensive” and technically difficult, and that the team instead plans to raise concrete at corners in places to provide better cover for electrical conduits and reduce contractor impacts on unstable subgrade.

Staff said the city’s 2024 street‑lighting evaluation recommended prioritizing intersection lighting along Marin Avenue because existing utility‑pole‑mounted luminaires are often shielded by tree canopies. The revised project includes new street lights at most intersections and provisioned electrical capacity for possible future mid‑block lighting; staff estimated adding intersection lighting increased the project budget “by about 10% — that’s a half a $1,000,000,” according to the presentation.

Other design changes in the plans include: - Upgrading the Peralta Avenue signal controller and adding battery backup and GPS preemption for emergency vehicles; staff said some signal heads and pedestrian signals are obscured by tree canopies and the existing conduit is very shallow and vulnerable to damage. - Replacing loops with video detection where feasible to reduce maintenance and accidental damage to in‑pavement loops. - Minor traffic‑striping revisions, including green‑backed bike lane departure markings, a Chevron exterior buffer, and green bicycle boxes at several intersections, plus audible and vibrotactile pedestrian push‑button upgrades to meet ADA standards. - Curb‑ramp changes: where subgrade or grade constraints prevent the originally planned Case A ramps staff propose Case F or Case G ramp geometries and a 5‑foot ramp width where feasible to improve accessibility.

At a public comment period, several residents and frequent bicyclists urged staff to coordinate traffic calming across adjoining streets, asked about storm‑drain improvements and potential flood impacts, and requested that the city consider more permanent bulb‑outs rather than painted treatments where they improve safety. Staff said the project will construct new storm‑drain inlets and connect corner drains into the engineered main where possible; staff also said storm‑drain laterals are in poor condition in many places and the project includes substantial storm‑drain upgrades.

Commissioners asked about lane widths, speed management and whether mid‑block lighting could be added in stages; staff said lane widths on Marin were narrowed to 10 feet to preserve the bikeway buffer and that the project is primarily a pavement rehabilitation project that aims to avoid rebuilding entire sections of roadway where shallow bedrock or muddy subgrade make full reconstruction difficult.

After discussion the commission voted to recommend Council approve the plans. The motion passed on a roll call recorded as unanimous by the commission.