Among the options on the table for the Southside Complete Streets Project is a configuration that would turn Telegraph Avenue near the campus of UC Berkeley into a pedestrian, bike, and transit-only plaza.
The blocks of Telegraph Avenue nearest to the campus of the University of California, Berkeley could soon be reconfigured to block cars, raise the street to the level of its sidewalks, and create transit bus lanes and improved pedestrian and bike infrastructure, reports Katie Lauer for the Mercury News in an article that might be paywalled for some readers.
The Southside Complete Streets Project aspires to create a "Times Square of the West" along the bustling corridor, which currently achieves its vibrancy despite one-way car traffic than ends when the street meets the campus near Sproul Plaza and Sather Gate.
According to Lauer, "the redesign will feature dedicated bus lanes, protected bike paths, widened sidewalks, improved pedestrian crossings and public transit stops. The purpose is to reduce dangerous traffic collisions, improve local transit reliability and boost the economic and cultural vitality of the neighborhood..."
The car-free plan is one alternative in the project, which is still under study after receiving a preliminary green light from the Berkeley City Council.
"Although the car-free idea wasn’t originally on the table, city officials bought into it following public outreach last summer and a last-minute push by members of Telegraph for People, a student-driven advocacy group," reports Lauer.
More details on the various options on the table for the project, including street cross sections, are included in the source article below.
FULL STORY: Berkeley: Plan may turn Telegraph Avenue into ‘West Coast’s Times Square’
Mamdani’s Budget Fails to Expand Open Streets, Breaking Campaign Promise
The proposed budget allocates $2 million to Summer Streets and Open Streets, less than the $2.1 million allocated by the Adams administration last year.
Paris Voters Approve More Car-Free Streets
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo says the city will develop a plan to close 500 streets to car traffic and add new bike and pedestrian infrastructure after a referendum on the proposal passed with 66 percent of the vote.
NYC Officials Announce Broadway Pedestrianization Project
Two blocks of the marquee street will become mostly car-free public spaces.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
Baltimore to break ground on $50 million Transit Priority Project
The project will bring faster bus trips, safer streets and better bike connections to Baltimore.
Airbnb launches $250 million 'last-dollar financing' housing accelerator, makes first investment in Austin
The company will put $6.4 million towards affordable housing development in Texas’ capital.
Guerilla urbanists are building DIY bus stop benches in Chicago
A before-and-after of one of the bus stops with a new bench. The new benches are not officially sanctioned or permitted, but the residents who placed them hope they will be the start of a network of DIY benches across the city.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association