Undercrossing Improvements

Project TypeTransportation
Project StatusIn Process

Providing transformative improvements to four freeway undercrossings.

About

Please check this webpage periodically for upcoming events and ways to provide feedback. You can also sign up for email updates to stay up-to-date on Undercrossing Improvements.

Past events included:

Wednesday, November 6: West Oakland Community Action Plan Five-Year Celebration
Friday, November 8, 8am-2pm: Old Oakland Farmers Market
Sunday, November 17, 10am-2pm: West Oakland Farmers Market
Friday, December 6, 9am-2pm: Old Oakland Farmers Market
Sunday, December 8, 10am-2pm: West Oakland Farmers Market

Project Background

Freeways are designed to carry large amounts of vehicles at high speeds. Urban freeways create social, spatial, and economic challenges. They divide neighborhoods and restrict mobility and access to those neighborhoods. Most of these issues have roots in urban renewal that unfolded across the United States in the 1950s. Racist policies (like redlining) facilitated the destruction of Black, Asian, and Hispanic neighborhoods. Freeways displaced residents and continue to damage the neighborhoods they divide.

Project Scope

Streets that pass under freeways are called "undercrossings." In many places in Oakland, undercrossings are dark, loud, and feel unsafe. The goal of this project is to improve undercrossings for people walking, biking, and rolling. To meet the project goal, the project scope includes lighting, wayfinding, and placemaking:

Lighting will help make people feel safer and could be colorful or fun to look at.
Wayfinding will help people know where they are and see where they want to go.
Placemaking makes the space feel safe, welcoming, and reflective of the surrounding community. Placemaking could include colors, patterns, and other design elements.

Project Location

This project will improve four undercrossings:

7th Street under I-980
Martin Luther King Jr. Way under I-880
Washington Street under I-880
Broadway under I-880

These locations were chosen because there will be other improvements along the same locations.

Past Engagement & Outcomes

Broadway and Martin Luther King Jr Way Streetscape Improvements

In Summer 2023, OakDOT conducted engagement for two corridor projects that pass under the elevated I-880 freeway. These projects included the Broadway and Martin Luther King, Jr. Way Streetscape Improvements. Some key takeaways about the undercrossing areas of these projects included:

Respondents were most excited about improved pedestrian lighting under I-880
Better wayfinding for drivers
Increased lighting and safety for cyclists
Safety and cleanliness concerns
Removing trash and debris
Clean up of abandoned automobiles
Design elements to promote community identity on Broadway
Concern for support for unhoused people

Walk This Way

In 2021, City staff developed the Walk This Way toolkit. This toolkit helps staff better understand undercrossing conditions and barriers to improvements. The toolkit also provided strategies for overcoming these barriers. The Undercrossing Improvements applies strategies from the Walk This Way toolkit.

Howard Terminal Transportation Plan

In 2019 and 2020, hundreds of Oaklanders were engaged in the development of the Howard Terminal Transportation Plan(PDF, 5MB). Over 500 surveys were conducted in-person in English, Spanish, and Chinese. Online surveys were also advertised, with a focus on residents in West Oakland, Old Oakland, Chinatown, and Jack London. In addition, four community meetings, ten stakeholder meetings, and a workshop were held in the plan area. The feedback from this engagement highlighted a need to improve undercrossings. As a result, Undercrossing Improvements were included in the Howard Terminal Transportation Plan.

Page last updated: February 6, 2025