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Safety Won!
Berkeley City Council voted 7-2 to approve protected bike lanes on Hopkins
While we were not successful in extending the bike lanes to Stannage, this is still great news. Hopkins will have protected bike lanes from The Alameda to Peralta with traffic calming elements for the whole street.
What’s good about the new proposal:
Hopkins needs to be repaved. Digging once and making much-needed safety improvements simultaneously is fiscally responsible.
The switch to one-way protected bike lanes is an improvement over the earlier two-way concept, as it will be even safer and more intuitive.
The proposal moves us closer to creating a citywide low-stress bicycle network. It provides several important bicycle connections, including to the Ohlone Greenway, Martin Luther King Middle School and the track, park, and pool, Hopkins businesses, and Gilman Street.
Protected bike lanes and traffic calming features will slow cars down and improve safety for everyone, supporting Berkeley’s Vision Zero commitment.
Hopkins is currently dangerous for people riding bikes, especially kids. Rebalancing the street to include protected bike lanes creates a much-needed safe route to the schools along the corridor.
The proposed traffic calming measures will reduce dangerous vehicle speeding, making the street safer for families walking to local schools and parks.
The proposal will improve transit reliability by reducing the need for buses to merge back into traffic at stops.
Repaving Hopkins with safety improvementswill help protect seniors, families with strollers, and people with disabilities who rely on safe, predictable paths of travel.
By making walking, biking, and transit safer and more appealing, this plan encourages residents to leave their cars at home, directly reducing local greenhouse gas emissions.
Streets designed for people—with slower traffic and safer pedestrian and bike access—create more vibrant commercial corridors. The proposed improvements will make cherished businesses on Hopkins even more desirable destinations.
The proposal is consistent with Berkeley’s many transportation plans and policies - including the City’s Vision Zero Action Plan, Climate Plan, Pedestrian Plan, Bicycle Plan, Transit-First Implementation Plan, and Complete Streets Policy.
Adding metered car parking near the Hopkins businesses will encourage more parking turnover, offsetting some of the parking loss.
Hopkins has been debated endlessly. It’s time to make a decision - no more studies - no more process.
What could be improved
The current proposal does not do enough to connect West Berkeleyans to the schools and shops on Hopkins. Extending the protected bike lanes west to Stannage would connect to San Pablo Ave’s parallel bike route and create a more complete safe route for students to get to school.
The stretch from The Alameda to Sutter is wide enough to accommodate protected bike lanes, but the current proposal does not include them.
Safe Routes to Schools
Our kids need safe routes to schools: King Middle School, Saint Mary’s, Crowden, and Ruth Acty Elementary. Not to mention all of the daycares and preschools in the area.
We want protected bike lanes that encourage car-free travel. There was a plan to add a 2-way cycle track to Hopkins that was approved by Berkeley city council years ago, but for many reasons the project was paused.
Now it's back and we need to remind the city council that there’s still a lot of support for this plan.
Save the date: July 28 for the council meeting to approve Hopkins bike lanes.
Barrier-protected bike lanes on Hopkins will:
Keep the sidewalk open for people walking and those moving at slower speeds
Boost local businesses by making the location accessible to all
Create a safe route for students to get to school independently
Connect West Berkeley to the King pool, the shops at Monterey & Hopkins, and other amenities
Slower Street = Safer Street
Pedestrian improvements (like bulbouts) make crossing streets safer, but the narrowing effect protected bike lanes provide will slow down traffic, and that makes the road safer for everyone traveling on it. In fact, after New York City added more protected bike lanes they saw a reduction in fatalities and injuries in general but especially senior pedestrians (link).
No matter how you go — driving, walking, biking, or scooting — protected bike lanes have been shown to prevent injuries or death from collisions with cars. That goes for everyone using the road, not just the ones using the lane.
Safety > Parking
Parking isn’t worth risking more lives.
Plus, providing protected bike lanes actually reduces the need for parking spaces because more people feel safe biking instead of driving. Not everyone can swap their car for a bike, but for everyone who does there is one less car on the road.
The plan that we’re supporting also includes accommodations for folks who have limited mobility, and who have to drive: it adds new accessible parking spaces and new loading zones. Learn more of the details about the plan here.
What about access for first responders?
Protected bike lanes with mountable curbs could improve emergency response and evacuation on Hopkins.
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At one of the meetings about Hopkins safety improvements in 2023, a public commenter who was opposed to the plan called supporters the "Radical Bike Lobby."
We are Berkeley residents who want better transportation options in our city, not lobbyists. Still, it's pretty catchy. Join the Radical Bike Lobby today!
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