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New: Berkeley Hearings to Consider Changes to AC Transit's Line 51
Would you prefer to speed up the 51 bus line, or preserve parking spaces? AC Transit will hold two public meetings at which Line 51B/A riders and neighbors can comment on this trade-off:
Mon., Aug. 26, 6-8 p.m.
La Quinta Inn (Continental Room, 2nd Floor)
920 University Avenue (@ 8th Street), Berkeley
Thurs., Aug. 29, 6-8 p.m.
Julia Morgan Center for the Arts (Studio 1)
2640 College Avenue (@Derby), Berkeley
You can also submit written comments by Friday, Sept. 13, 5 p.m., to: Tammy Kyllo at planning@actransit.org.
You'll find detailed proposals on pages 38-51 of this 2008 report, with pages 45-49 focusing on Berkeley:
http://www.actransit.org/wp-
Some proposals involve significant trade-offs:
* Removing parking spaces to create peak-hour bus lanes on some blocks of University Ave. This could remove up to several dozen parking spaces, from 12-7 p.m. or 4-7 p.m.
* Removing several bus stops -- which could speed up the bus, but require riders to walk further.
* Replacing stop signs with traffic signals at College/Russell and College/Bancroft Way.
* New turn restrictions on southbound College Ave., near Claremont Ave.: No left turn into the Safeway parking lot; no right turn into the Bank of America lot.
* "Bus bulbs," which could displace right-turn and bicycle pockets.
Other proposals are low-impact: better signal timing and coordination, new bus shelters and benches, and moving several bus stops to an intersection's "far" side, to help the bus clear traffic lights.
Descriptions of the meetings, and of the Line 51 project, are at these links:
http://www.actransit.org/2013/
http://www.actransit.org/
The proposals will later be considered by Berkeley's Transportation Commission, and ultimately by the City Council. If you live, work, or travel in Area 51, these meetings are your first chance to get your comments on the official record.
