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Albany council adopts Active Transportation Plan amid heated Solano Avenue debate
Summary
After hours of public testimony for and against a proposed Solano Avenue protected bikeway, the Albany City Council adopted the Active Transportation Plan, including a conceptual uphill protected bikeway on Solano and priority projects. The vote passed with one dissenting vote; staff said the plan is a guide and detailed design will follow.
Albany City Council on July 6 adopted an updated Active Transportation Plan (ATP) that lays out a multi-year blueprint for pedestrian and bicycle improvements across the city, including a disputed conceptual design for a one-way uphill protected bikeway on Solano Avenue.
Transportation and sustainability manager Justin Fried told the council the ATP is a planning document that updates the 2012 plan, consolidates public engagement and technical analysis, and lists 21 priority projects and several priority programs. The document includes a detailed Solano Avenue appendix and a concept for an eastbound uphill protected bikeway with a shared downhill lane and angled parking on the uphill side, intended to reduce the door-zone risk for cyclists while minimizing net parking loss.
The plan’s Solano streetscape estimate is deliberately broad, Fried said: a full streetscape rebuild from Masonic to Tulare could range from roughly $30 million to $50 million, depending on the scope and whether curb lines or utility work are moved.
The public hearing drew more than 40 speakers both for and against the Solano concept. Supporters said protected lanes save lives, expand access and bring new customers to businesses; opponents warned of lost parking, narrower travel lanes, fire and emergency access complications and potential harm to Solano’s commercial character. At least two speakers described personal tragedy and near-miss collisions as reasons to add protected facilities. One family member said, “Protected bike lanes save lives, period,” and urged the council to adopt the plan.
Councilors spent more than an hour asking technical questions about curb extensions, bus stops, emergency access, parking impacts and whether the proposed cross-sections could meet the fire department’s clearance needs. Staff repeatedly emphasized that the ATP is conceptual and that detailed project design, right-of-way verification and intersection engineering would be completed in later phases.
Several council members and the Transportation Commission argued the ATP is necessary so the city can pursue regional grant funding; staff said many grant programs require projects to be in a formally adopted plan. Others warned that adoption should not be read as immediate construction authorization and asked staff to preserve options during detailed design.
Council amended the priority list to add the Cerrito Creek pedestrian connection and to include two additional Key Route intersections as bicycle-priority intersections. On a roll-call vote the motion to adopt the ATP and find the adoption not a project under CEQA passed; Vice Mayor Henson Romero cast the sole No vote.
What happens next: adoption makes the ATP the city’s guiding plan for active-transportation projects and helps position Solano Avenue for future project development and grant funding; detailed design, environmental review as needed, and further community engagement will follow before any construction begins.
