Take Action: Southside & Hopkins

Show up for extending safety improvements on Hopkins Street - Monday, 12/12

We’re on a Hopkins Street roll and need your help to keep the momentum! The City is moving forward with pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements on Hopkins from Gilman to Sutter. Now the City is considering whether to extend those improvements further west, from Gilman to San Pablo, when the street is repaved in 2023. We want them to hear a resounding YES!!

Register for a virtual community meeting the City is holding on Monday, December 12 at 5:30pm to provide feedback on design options for Hopkins from Gilman to San Pablo. We also encourage you to sign up for a notification and talking points for this meeting here.

We expect many neighbors will fight against safety improvements to preserve on-street car storage. 

Please join Walk Bike Berkeley in support of extending safety improvements. Here are some points to consider sharing:

  • This is an equity issue. District 1 is a historically yellow- and red-lined district. Protected bike lanes shouldn’t end at the gateway from District 1 into the historically wealthier and whiter neighborhoods in District 5. 

  • Extending protected bike lanes to Kains will allow West Berkeley youth, for instance, to safely bike or scoot to school at MLK Middle School, and all District 1 residents to safely walk, bike or scoot to the many amenities along Hopkins.

  • Narrower travel lanes, protected bike lanes, traffic calming, and accessibility improvements will make the road safer for everyone.

  • Cars are the largest source of climate emissions in Berkeley. We need to follow adopted City policy and plans - reallocate street space to make walking and biking safe and attractive.

Tell Council to Close the Southside Complete Streets Funding Gap

In February 2022, we celebrated Council’s approval of an ambitious Southside Complete Streets conceptual design. The plans include pedestrian and bicycle improvements on Bancroft, Dana, and Fulton, along with pedestrianizing Telegraph Avenue near campus. 

Unfortunately cost estimates for the project now significantly exceed those initially allocated to the project. This is both because construction costs have increased dramatically, and because the scope of the project has grown (for the better). 

Councilmember Rigel Robinson has submitted a $1 million budget referral to close this funding gap. Council has the opportunity to do so now, in a budget amendment. Doing so is critical to ensure that construction on Bancroft, Fulton, and Dana proceeds on schedule and to prevent the loss of $7.3 million in Federal grant funds. 

Please write to Council to support closing the Southside Complete Street funding gap!

Learn to bike in wet weather - Saturday, 12/10

Bike East Bay is holding a Biking in Wet Weather Workshop at the North Berkeley Library on Saturday, 12/10. Register here.

In the news...

Barnali Ghosh