OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) — Construction has wrapped up on a project at 10th Street in Oakland’s Chinatown, aiming to make it safer for kids walking and biking to school, part of the city’s Safe Routes to School program.
The Department of Transportation said the area on 10th Street was first looked into in 2017 with a walk audit. On Wednesday, it celebrated the completion of the improvements.
The project included repaving 10th Street between Madison and Webster Streets. The goal is to improve safety that can support those who walk and bike around the area, especially those going to and from Lincoln Elementary School.
Some of the improvements include curb extensions, pedestrian safety islands, plus an island-protected loading zone in front of Lincoln Elementary for pick-up and drop-off.
Additions were already being used on Wednesday morning.
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“Look what we’ve seen so far,” said Josh Rowan, director of Oakland’s Department of Transportation. “We have motor coaches loading. We have delivery trucks coming through. We had a fire truck a minute ago. We have everything coming through here. We have walkers. We have people using walkers. We have cyclists. And this is a very important area, and we’re going to continue to focus on safety in Chinatown.”
The Oakland Department of Transportation said high crash statistics in the area helped factor into its being chosen for the safety improvements.
Some of the other improvements included an extension of the Westbound 10th Street bikeway and the city’s first angled parking protected bike lane.
The Oakland DOT said this is one of five projects like it being finished around the city. Rowan said the cost for all of them is around $4 million dollars.
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