Pathway Work on Ohlone Greenway Begins

Work is finally resuming on the between Brighton and Portland avenues, and the new pathway may be open by early July.

The BART retrofitting in that section was completed several months ago. But then rain at regular intervals in March and April prevented crews from paving the new bike and pedestrian path.

May was quite dry, yet the worksite remained quiet.

The problem, explained Greg Jacobs, an engineering consultant for the city, was that the original plans for the pathway did not include any header board. The board, a recycled plastic material, divides the asphalt from the decomposed granite on the jogging shoulders on the path, and also divides the decomposed granite from the landscaping.

“When discussions about pathways started coming up at meetings—about a month or a month-and-half ago,” Jacobs said, “I took a closer look at plans and realized there were no header boards.”  Jacobs said he was not involved in the original review of the plans, several years ago.

The city had to get an amended work order approved by BART, but that is done, and the boards are now being installed, Jacobs said. Sprinklers for the landscaping have also been installed, said workers at the site. Paving is tentatively scheduled for the week of June 25, lasting a week or two.

As soon as the pavement is finished—sometime in the first or second week of July, according to current plans—the pathway will open, but the rest of the greenway will remain fenced off for landscaping.

A little precipitation, like last week’s five-minute rain, should not set the project back, Jacobs said.

Some city staff members are scheduled to meet this week to discuss how to stripe the new path (whether to create separate lanes for bikers and pedestrians) and what sort of temporary path will be provided when the next section of the greenway closes, between Portland and Solano avenues.

The new path from Solano south to Dartmouth Street will also be paved soon. However, in that area, BART will continue working on strengthening the tops of the support columns until September, said Jason McLean, a BART community relations liaison.

Sidewalks under the BART tracks along Solano and Marin that were closed and destroyed by construction have been rebuilt and are open again, Jacobs said.

Concerns about the project can be directed to the city's Public Works Department at 510-524-9543 or to BART's project information line for Albany, 510-412-5546, or by email to earthquakesafety@BART.gov.

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