Abstract
This paper presents a plan for transforming a major arterial and a transit station that divide a low-income business and residential district into an economically healthy, context-sensitive, transit-oriented development. Adeline Street is a major point of entry into Berkeley, California, linking the city of Oakland on the south to the central districts of Berkeley. Formerly a major streetcar corridor, Adeline is now the location of a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station and a surface parking lot, for which housing and businesses were removed in the 1960s. The street's 180-ft right-of-way, fast-moving traffic, and many uncontrolled intersections present an imposing barrier to pedestrians and bicyclists and detract from the retail uses that remain on portions of the street. The goal of this study was to redesign Adeline to be safer and more inviting. The design envisions Adeline as a balanced, multimodal link in the transportation network and a safe, attractive district for residents and visitors. The proposed redesign reconfigures the corridor, by reclaiming underutilized street and parking space for new housing, commercial uses, and parks. A road diet approach is used, with fewer travel lanes on some sections and redesigned intersections that shorten crossings and provides new pedestrian, bicycle, and transit facilities. A reconfiguration of the BART parking lot creates land for the development of new housing and open space. The proposed implementation plan includes a low-build alternative with initial basic improvements and more dramatic ones as funding becomes available.