City officials in El Cerrito on Monday celebrated the completion of the Del Norte Complete Streets Project, saying it will improve mobility, safety and access to transit and housing around the Del Norte BART station and along the San Pablo Avenue corridor.
The project, which grew out of the city’s San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan adopted in 2014, included protected bike lanes, upgraded crosswalks, protected intersections, bus boarding islands, improved sidewalks and other traffic-calming and pedestrian safety improvements along San Pablo Avenue and nearby streets serving the Del Norte BART station.
The project is part of the city’s vision to create a pedestrian-friendly, multimodal corridor while promoting sustainability, supporting transit-oriented development and encouraging economic growth, officials said.
“Today, we are not just cutting a ribbon. We are celebrating a transformation of an entire corridor here in El Cerrito to make it better serve our entire community,” Mayor Gabe Quinto said.
He said the city’s vision is for every person who walks, rides or rolls through the community to feel safe and easily get to where they need to go.
Mayor Pro Tem Rebecca Saltzman said the city also is working to make it easier and more affordable for people to live near BART stations and plans similar transportation improvements on Richmond Street and around the El Cerrito Plaza BART station.
Barnali Ghosh, BART Board of Directors representative for District 3, said BART contributed more than $800,000 through its Safe Routes to BART grant program, supporting bike lanes, crosswalks, protected intersections and traffic-calming measures that make it safer for people to reach the station by walking, biking or rolling.
El Cerrito resident Amei Anders said she welcomed the new bike lanes because they would make it easier for her to ride to the gym and nearby shops instead of driving.
“It feels much nicer to be on a bicycle,” Anders said.
