Oakland is set to break ground later this year on a major East Bay Greenway expansion that will swap out hair-raising gaps around Lake Merritt and Fruitvale for concrete-protected bike lanes, bus boarding islands and high-visibility crosswalks. The Oakland North construction package will remake long stretches of East 10th, East 8th and East 12th streets and tie into planned work on San Leandro Street. City and county planners say designs are nearly finished and that construction is slated to roll out in 2026.
Designs and schedule
According to the Alameda County Transportation Commission, the Oakland North construction package is scheduled to complete its design phase in April 2026 and is targeted to begin construction in winter 2026. The same presentation lists the North-phase construction budget at about $196.7 million. The Alameda CTC is the project sponsor and is coordinating the work across Oakland and San Leandro, per the City of Oakland.
What riders will see
Design drawings show a mix of two-way cycletracks, protected one-way bikeways, bulbouts with curb ramps, bus boarding islands, relocated stops and rapid-flashing beacons at busy crossings. On East 10th, the plan calls for a fully protected two-way 13-foot-wide cycle track with a roughly 7-foot landscaping buffer. East 12th would get protected lanes buffered by a three-foot concrete curb, while East 8th is slated for a two-way cycle track between 10th and 14th avenues. Those specifics were reported by The Oaklandside, which reviewed the latest design materials.
How it will reshape streets
To fit the new bikeways, designers plan to narrow some driving lanes by about a foot on certain blocks of East 10th while largely keeping parking lane widths intact, and the package calls for relocated bus stops and new boarding islands. The plans also include drought-tolerant planting and stormwater treatments in order to meet current maintenance and water-quality rules. The full East Bay Greenway corridor runs roughly 16 miles and will connect seven BART stations from Lake Merritt to South Hayward, according to the City of Oakland.
Local reaction and logistics
Local advocates say the greenway will finally stitch together missing low-stress routes around the lake and into Fruitvale, but advisory-commission members have raised ongoing questions about maintenance, trash staging and RV parking. Planning materials and outreach notes show the project team is weighing trade-offs between daylighting at driveways and providing landscaped buffers that satisfy stormwater rules. Those discussions are reflected in materials shared with neighborhood groups and advocates, including updates summarized by Bike East Bay and in BPAC notes.
Next steps and what to expect
Designs for the next phase are scheduled to be presented at a BPAC infrastructure meeting in March, and planners say final designs will wrap in April before construction packages begin, as reported by The Oaklandside. ACTC staff and city crews will continue community outreach as construction approaches, and officials say the city will manage the new bikeway once it is built.
