East Bay Greenway Receives $2.6 Million State Grant

The California Transportation Commission (CTC) announced yesterday that it will fully fund Alameda County Transportation Commission’s request for $2.6 million in Active Transportation Program funding to support planning efforts for the East Bay Greenway Project.

Planning efforts funded through this grant will focus on advancing a 15-mile stretch of the Greenway along the spine of Alameda County, forming a critical link in a multimodal transportation network. The East Bay Greenway will provide the more than 189,000 residents, 43,000 workers and 38,000 students who live, work or attend school nearby with safe, separated from traffic, pedestrian and bicycle access to buses and BART, downtowns, commercial districts and industrial job centers.

“The East Bay Greenway will connect neighborhoods with improved access to transit for pedestrians and bicyclists,” says Alameda CTC Chair Supervisor Scott Haggerty. “Making use of the space under the elevated BART tracks for the Greenway makes sense and provides the community with an attractive alternative to the automobile to get to work, school or to other destinations.”

In 2013 the State Legislature created the Active Transportation Program (ATP) to encourage increased use of active modes of transportation, including biking and walking and to increase the safety and mobility of non-motorized users, enhance public health and help achieve state greenhouse gas reduction goals. Alameda CTC’s East Bay Greenway grant is one of only 124 projects supported by more than $183 million in highly competitive ATP first round funding. The CTC received more than $1 billion in funding requests and only funded 12 Bay Area projects.

“The Greenway will be transformative for community health and safety,” says Alameda CTC Executive Director Arthur L. Dao. “It will transform the space under the elevated BART tracks from Oakland through San Leandro, unincorporated Alameda County and Hayward, into a high-quality active transportation facility, open space and community asset.”

A half-mile segment of the East Bay Greenway (from the Coliseum BART Station to 85th Avenue in Oakland) received a federal TIGER II grant and is currently under construction. Also funded by the East Bay Regional Park District’s Measure WW and Alameda CTC’s Measure B, this important first segment will open this fall.

The ATP grant will support preliminary engineering and stakeholder coordination and community outreach activities needed to advance the full 15-mile Greenway towards shovel readiness. Funding to further implement the project is included in the 2014 Transportation Expenditure Plan, which will be on the November 2014 ballot as Measure BB.

The concept of the East Bay Greenway originated from a grassroots planning process in 2006-2008, which established consensus among local jurisdictions, stakeholders and the community as to the purpose, need and potential benefits of a greenway in these neighborhoods.

—Information submitted by Alameda County Transportation Commission