Bike lanes on Railroad Avenue could cost Point Richmond up to 56 parking spaces

A plan to close a gap in the Bay Trail through Point Richmond is drawing opposition from residents concerned about parking losses and emergency evacuation routes.

The potentially $1.4 million project would fill the Bay Trail gap between Tewksbury Avenue at Santa Fe Avenue and South Garrard Boulevard at Cutting Boulevard, eliminating between 29 and 56 of the street's 111 parking spaces, depending on the design.

More than a dozen people spoke about the project at the Point Richmond Neighborhood Council's September 30 meeting. Most opposed the parking cuts. Desiree Heveroh, who operates businesses along Railroad Avenue, was among them.

"I am not anti-bike at all, but I think that there are ways to do something that don't cater specifically just to one group and alienate all the other groups," she said. "There are ways that everyone can live together. Point Richmond already doesn't have enough parking."

City senior transportation planner Gail Payne and the CSW/ST2 team presented five ideas for Railroad Avenue.

Option A would make the street one-way northbound, add a protected southbound bike lane, and remove 29 parking spaces.

Option B would also make the street one-way but provide a two-way protected bike lane, also removing 29 spaces.

Option C would retain two-way traffic and add a two-way protected bike lane, removing 56 spaces, about half the street's parking.

Option D would add shared-lane "sharrow" markings, remove about four spaces, and leave the trail gap open.

Option E would use BNSF Railway land that the railroad hasn't made available.

The one-way options would shift about 550 southbound vehicles a day onto Washington Avenue and Park Place, according to the memo. Option A leaves about 18 feet for fire trucks, below the state's 20-foot minimum, and the Richmond Fire Department is reviewing whether that's acceptable. The memo calls Option B infeasible, though it remains in the survey.

Edie Sellers, a founding member of Point Richmond CERT, pressed Payne about evacuation routes.

"Where are the plans for evacuation routes?" Sellers said. "Blood will be on your hands if there is ever a fire in downtown Point Richmond."

Philip Rosenthal, Point Richmond neighborhood council president, said city staff told him that week that the Point’s main evacuation plan is to shelter in place. He said that might work for a chemical release at the Chevron refinery, but not for an explosion or fire.

“They don’t want us fleeing the neighborhood,” Rosenthal said. “But for the city to tell us that if Chevron is exploding, they want us to go in our house and use masking tape, no good.”

Senior Civil Engineer Hillal Hamdan read an email from Richard Diaz, the city's emergency services director, saying new evacuation routes are being drafted into the city's General Plan and will go out for public comment.

"Don't tell me to go find a document from Richard Diaz," Sellers said. "You come to us and tell us what the evacuation routes are because we live here and we're the ones that will suffer if we don't have a good plan."

Robert Stevens of CSW/ST2 said the team would try to put the city's emergency plans in writing by November. He said a parking study was also complete and a count the week before the meeting found Point Richmond parking nearly full.

Heveroh said she hadn't heard about the project, despite her business being near CSW/ST2's Railroad Avenue office.

"I'm like feet away from your office," she said. "I never heard about this with all of your studying and all of your daily canvassing."

Some cyclists in the room sided with the opponents. Eric Naprella, who commutes by bike from Point Richmond, said he relies on the protected lanes on Cutting Boulevard but doesn't need them in Point Richmond.

"Cars just can't go that quickly," he said. "I feel safe, and have no issues sharing the road with the existing sharrows and the network downtown."

Not everyone opposed the review. Bruce Brubaker of the Trails for Richmond Action Committee, formed 20 years ago to finish the Bay Trail in Richmond, said the city's share of the trail has grown from about 17 miles in 2000 to more than 30. The route already runs through Point Richmond.

"It makes sense to analyze the route and see if there's improvements that could be made, and that's exactly what's happening here," Brubaker said.

Brubaker said the trail also serves people on foot. He pointed to the triangle, where there is no crosswalk, and the crossing from Mechanics Bank across Richmond Avenue, which he called "really lousy."

"It may end up being no change is the preferable route, and that's fine," Brubaker said. He asked residents to keep "an open mind to consider these and reject the ones that are not appropriate."

No option has been chosen. Stevens said two options are feasible for Railroad Avenue: the one-way option that removes parking and Option D. The draft memo also lists Option C as buildable within the budget. Hamdan said Option D could be the outcome if that's where public feedback points.

Some residents worried that bike advocates from outside the neighborhood could sway the survey results. Stevens said the survey flags duplicate responses but doesn't ask respondents for their addresses.

The online survey is open through Friday, October 23. The city will present a preferred design Saturday, November 14, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Point Richmond Community Center.