The Berkeley City Council discussed a potential infrastructure bond of up to $300 million for the November 2026 general election ballot at a special council meeting Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The city of Berkeley has more than $1 billion in \u201cunfunded infrastructure needs,\u201d according to city staff.Though part of the city\u2019s general fund as well as voter-approved ballot measures partially meet this financial need, the measures thus far have not been enough.<\/p>\n
These measures include the $100 million Measure T1 bond, passed in 2016, which funds city infrastructure construction and improvements, as well as the Measure FF parcel tax, passed in 2024, which provides about $267 million across 14 years for street and sidewalk repairs.<\/p>\n
The proposed bond is meant to further address the backlog and is aligned withVision 2050, the city\u2019s recently updated climate resilience initiative to \u201caddress Berkeley\u2019s aging infrastructure and create a vibrant city for the next generation of Berkeley residents,\u201d according to Mayor Adena Ishii\u2019s Realize Vision 2050 Task Force.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cUnlike some past vision documents that I have observed figuratively gathering dust on a shelf, I believe Vision 2050 is different specifically because it aligns seamlessly with the bond measure and other infrastructure priorities and mechanisms that we are discussing,\u201d said District 4 Councilmember Igor Tregub in an email.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During the presentation, staff from the city manager\u2019s office and other departments recommended infrastructure improvements to the council to invest in through the proposed bond.<\/p>\n
Proposed infrastructure projects under the potential bond measure fall into three categories estimated to cost $100 million each, assessed in part with Vision 2050\u2019s criteria which includes public health and safety, local economy, preservation of water resources and green infrastructure.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Regarding community quality of life, city staff suggested upgrades to the Frances Albrier Community Center, King Pool and Harrison Field among other improvements.For public safety, Fire Chief David Sprague recommended renovation or replacement of fire stations 4 and 6, the Emergency Medical Services and Community Emergency Response Training Center and the Emergency Communications Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur stations are now no longer meeting current health, safety and operational standards,\u201d Sprague said. \u201cThey\u2019re not designed for a modern emergency response system, nor for the demands placed on firefighters, paramedics or the community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the special meeting, public works director Terrance Davis advocated for citywide accessibility improvements under the city\u2019s American Disabilities Act transition plan, modernized plumbing and electrical systems in buildings, such as the Public Safety Building and Berkeley Animal Shelter, and sidewalk repairs. This also included seismic upgrades to the Veterans Memorial Building and Maudelle Shirek Building, also known as Old City Hall, which Tregub stated are \u201cpillars of democracy in the public commons.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proposed bond can only be used for long-term capital improvements that increase the value or lifespan of buildings, roads and facilities. These types of bonds are generally repaid by taxpayers over 30 years and need two-thirds voter approval to pass.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During the presentation, staff said they intend to conduct community surveys in February and April 2026 to understand which infrastructure projects voters want prioritized and gauge support for the proposed bond measure.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s quite exciting because it\u2019s something not many local government agencies look at, (questions such as) \u2018What\u2019s going to happen in 2050?\u2019 rather than \u2018What shall we do next year?\u2019\u201d said campus professor and director of the Berkeley Center for Smart Infrastructure Kenichi Soga.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Soga serves on the Realize Vision 2050 Task Force, which has a plan that includes collaborations with campus anticipated to begin in April 2026. He noted that updates of the campus heating and cooling systems and construction of The Gateway \u2014 the new home of UC Berkeley\u2019s College of Computing, Data Science, and Society \u2014 can inform future city projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe next step is (for) the city \u2026 and citizens of Berkeley to say, \u2018Yes, let\u2019s go forward.\u2019\u201d Soga said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Berkeley City Council discussed a potential infrastructure bond of up to $300 million for the November 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82740,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[47060,47057,47070,47059,47065,7981,27198,32259,47043,47069,37522,47071,47044,47046,47045,47055,47054,47048,16974,47052,47053,47049,47064,47051,47066,47050,5434,47061,32268,47041,47040,143,145,144,47062,47058,47039,47047,47056,47067,47068,47063,47042],"class_list":["post-82739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-50-50-program","tag-ada-transition-plan","tag-and-society","tag-berkeley-animal-shelter","tag-berkeley-center-for-smart-infrastructure","tag-berkeley-city-council","tag-city-manager","tag-city-of-berkeley","tag-councilmember-igor-tregub","tag-data-science","tag-david-sprague","tag-david-white","tag-deputy-city-manager","tag-director-of-parks","tag-director-of-public-works","tag-dispatch","tag-emergency-medical-services-and-community-emergency-response-training-center","tag-finance-director","tag-fire-chief","tag-fire-station-4","tag-fire-station-6","tag-frances-albrier-community-center","tag-general-obligation-bond","tag-harrison-field","tag-kenichi-soga","tag-king-pool","tag-marina","tag-maudelle-shirek-building","tag-mayor-adena-ishii","tag-measure-ff","tag-measure-t1","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-old-berkeley-city-hall","tag-public-safety-building","tag-realize-vision-2050-task-force","tag-recreation-and-waterfront","tag-terrance-davis","tag-the-gateway","tag-uc-berkeley-college-of-computing","tag-veterans-memorial-building","tag-vision-2050"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}