Left: Richmond Street before the Complete Streets Improvement Project. Right: A conceptual vision for Richmond Street created by El Cerrito resident Steve Price, which is not an official city-approved plan. The Complete Streets improvements could include add chicanes, bulbouts, bike lanes, speed tables, streets trees, and other traffic-calming measures from Hill Street to Fairmount Avenue.
Richmond Street: The situation
Richmond Street has received $8 million in federal investment for street safety improvements.
A small but vocal group is trying to block this project by opposing bicycle infrastructure improvements, despite overwhelming evidence that such changes would benefit the entire community. Their claims contradict decades of scientific research and successful implementations in cities worldwide.
The Facts
Bicycle lanes create safer streets for everyone (including drivers)
Cities with higher bicycling rates are safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers (based on 13 years of data in 12 US cities) [Marshall et al 2019]
Protected bike lanes: 90% reduction in crashes and injuries [Teschke et al 2012]
Painted bike lanes: 50% reduction in crashes and injuries (based on meta-analysis of 23 other studies) [Reynolds et al 2009]
Safe streets build community and increase property values
Street trees increase property values [Kovacs et al 2022]
Residential streets that have bicycle facilities see increases in property values [SmartCities 2017]
Residents of multi-modal streets develop more friendships and enjoy a greater sense of community connection and belonging [Hart et al. 2011]
Walking and biking are essential to the city's climate goals :
51% of the El Cerrito’s emissions come from transportation [El Cerrito Climate Action Plan 2024]
Commuting via bike produces 28x lower carbon than driving -- and even 13x lower than an electric car [TNMT 2021]
7x more people can commute using bikes than cars given the same road space [CEGB]
El Cerrito’s current transportation network discourages bicycling
98% of roadway space is dedicated to cars [Chester et al. 2022]
There are twice as many parking spots (50,600) as people (25,962) in El Cerrito [Chester et al. 2022]
With 7% less space dedicated to parking, the bicycle network could be expanded by 200%
Roads for cars: 137 miles Roads for bikes: 9 miles
Overwhelming community support for safe streets
75% (of ~1000 responses) "agree" or "strongly agree" they would walk or bike more if it felt safer (EC Local Road Safety Plan survey)
69% either "very likely" or "likely" to support adding designated spaces for bicyclists even if it means removing some street parking.
June 2024: 128 signatories in north El Cerrito for the petition to “prioritize our children's safety over the flow of traffic”
Richmond Street project surveys: consistent majority support for “bikeway improvements” and “dedicated space for bicycles.”
Success!!! Thanks to all for supporting Complete Streets on Richmond Street!
Join us for a celebratory Happy Hour on Wed., July 30, 5–7 p.m., at Elevation 66
On July 15, the El Cerrito City Council rejected a proposal by El Cerrito Councilmember William Ktsanes to send the Richmond Street Complete Streets Improvement Project design — which included the conversion of some parking to make way for bike lanes north of Moeser Avenue — back to the staff for redesign. Councilmember Ktsanes’s motion did not receive a second from any of the four other councilmembers (Lisa Motoyama, Gabe Quinto, Rebecca Saltzman, and Carolyn Wysinger), effectively killing the proposal and allowing the city to move forward with the project as currently designed.
“Parking on the street is a privilege. No one owns the street,” El Cerrito Mayor Carolyn Wysinger said in her remarks. “You do not build policy saying it’s okay, it’s worked for 50 years. Things are changing. The culture of driving is changing … For those reasons I will be supporting this plan. I’m always going to root for the future.”
Supporters of safer streets on Richmond Street and throughout the city came out in force to support the project. THANK YOU! Dozens of El Cerritans—including many Richmond Street residents—plus supporters from Richmond Annex and Albany wrote e-mails to the council before the July 15 meeting and showed up in council chambers displaying our bright green “YES for SAFE, BEAUTIFUL, COMPLETE STREETS” stickers. Numerous supporters of the project spoke during public comment, letting the council know that they want to live in a community that prioritizes safer streets over parking.
Although opponents of the Richmond Street Complete Streets Improvement Project have the opportunity to appeal the design to the city manager and then city council, with a 4-1 majority of councilmembers expressing support for the design it’s a virtual certainty that any appeals would not succeed. If opponents of the project appeal, the council would likely vote to move the project forward in October. (If you sent an email, keep a copy just in case.)
The July 15 meeting was covered in the East Bay Times, Richmond Standard (funded by Chevron), and Livable El Cerrito, and a video of the meeting is posted on the City of El Cerrito website (Richmond Street study session begins at 51:30).
Join us for a celebratory Happy Hour on Wednesday, July 30, 5-7 p.m., at Elevation 66, 10082 San Pablo Ave. (adjacent to the Rialto Cerrito Theater). ECRA Walk & Roll looks forward to seeing you there!
Why Cities with High Bicycling Rates are Safer for all Road Users: Watch this nifty explainer video of research paper by Wes Marshall from the University of Colorado Denver and Nick Ferenchak from the University of New Mexico and read the full paper in the Journal of Transport & Health.
Our response to Richmond Street Neighbors Association website: A group called “Richmond Street Neighbors Association,” formed to oppose El Cerrito’s Richmond Street Complete Streets Improvement Project, has posted a website, Richmond Street For All. Read detailed responses to Richmond Street For All’s claims on our blog.
Making Richmond Street safer for vulnerable users: El Cerrito/Richmond Annex Walk & Roll received a letter from a neighbor of Richmond Street expressing concerns about the impact of losing on-street parking on vulnerable residents such as seniors and those with disabilities. Read this response, “Making Richmond Street safer for vulnerable users,” written by Steve Price, a member of the ECRA Walk & Roll coordinating committee.
More information:
Richmond Street Complete Streets Improvement Project (official city website)
El Cerrito Local Roads Safety Plan
El Cerrito Complete Streets policy
El Cerrito Active Transportation Plan