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Council adopts Concept 3B for Telegraph Avenue corridor; staff directed to reduce bus delay and study Dwight Triangle closure
Summary
After public outreach and technical review, council adopted Concept 3B for the Telegraph multimodal corridor (protected bike lanes, center turn lane and targeted transit priority around Ashby) and asked staff to refine designs to reduce projected transit delay and to return with Dwight Triangle closure options.
The Berkeley City Council voted Oct. 28 to adopt Concept 3B as the recommended conceptual design for the Telegraph Avenue multimodal corridor, directing Public Works to advance detailed engineering and to prioritize measures that reduce bus travel-time impacts.
The project covers Telegraph between Dwight Way and Woolsey Street (the Oakland border), roughly 0.85 miles. Staff presented three conceptual options and a revised compromise—Concept 3B—that balances Vision Zero safety goals (slower vehicle speeds, shorter pedestrian crossings and protected bike lanes) with transit performance. Concept 3B uses a single through lane in each direction, a continuous center turn lane, floating parking and protected (Class 4) bike lanes; it adds targeted transit-priority elements (BAT lanes and queue jumps) around the Ashby intersection to address most modeled transit delay there.
Public comment was extensive: bike and pedestrian advocates, the Telegraph Business Improvement District and Walk/Berkeley generally supported the recommended concept and urged closing the Dwight Triangle slip lane for safety; AC Transit and other speakers urged stronger continuous transit priority (a full dedicated bus lane) to improve bus reliability for Line 6, which carries thousands of daily riders. Staff noted that the 10% projected increase in transit travel time under Concept 3B does not incorporate AC Transit’s recent corridor signal-priority work and that detailed engineering will explore signal timing, selective dedicated lane extensions and other mitigations to reduce delay.
Council adopted Concept 3B and directed staff to refine bus travel-time mitigations and return with specific designs for closing the Dwight Triangle slip lane (including multiple closure options), while noting construction funding remains to be secured. The vote was 8–1 in favor (one council member opposed).
What happens next: staff will proceed to detailed engineering (100% design under an AC Transit / Alameda County-funded grant), continue outreach with disability advocates, AC Transit, business groups and emergency services, and pursue construction funding opportunities.
