El Cerrito City Council Candidate
Rebecca Saltzman
Questions from El Cerrito/Richmond Annex Walk & Roll
Question 1: Access to BART stations
Plans are underway to repurpose parking lots at El Cerrito Plaza BART to provide housing, retail, and possibly a new library. How would you support affordable, low-carbon access to BART thus reducing parking needs on BART property?
Increasing and improving access to BART for people biking, walking, and taking transit has been a priority of mine through my twelve years on the BART Board. I championed the Safe Routes to BART grant program and helped secure funding for walking and biking safety improvements on the streets surrounding del Norte BART, which are currently under construction. At El Cerrito Plaza BART I have been very involved in the planning for access, including the Berkeley-El Cerrito Corridor Access Plan, which recommended many upgrades for station access to stations in El Cerrito and Berkeley.
The El Cerrito Plaza BART project has secured tens of millions of dollars in state funding to improve access to the station. These funds will create a new bus pick up/drop off area at the station, consolidating all the bus stops to one side and adding bus shelters. The funds will also support the construction of a bike station at El Cerrito Plaza BART to better keep up with the demand for secure bike parking. Beyond the station, I support adding protected bike lanes leading to the station, improving intersections for biking and walking, and adding bus service along Richmond Street to El Cerrito del Norte BART and also bus service better connecting to Richmond Annex neighborhoods. We must make it easy and safe for people to walk, bike, and take transit to minimize the number of people who park at the station.
Question 2: Travel on San Pablo Avenue
Despite being one of the commercially richest corridors in West Contra Costa County, San Pablo Avenue does not feel safe to travel on except by car. It is also challenging to safely cross by bicycling and walking and it is where the majority of roadway crashes in our area occur. What kinds of changes would you support for San Pablo Avenue so that it is safer to bicycle and walk on, both along and across?
My vision for San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito and from Oakland to Richmond is for a street where people can move around safely biking or walking, where buses aren’t stuck in traffic, and where small businesses thrive. I’d like to see both bus only lanes and protected bike lanes all along the corridor, and increased bus service on the 72 lines. (I’m extremely disappointed that AC Transit is cutting service on the 72R, one of their most popular lines, and as a Councilmember I will work with AC Transit to restore this service.) I’d also support major improvements to intersections to make it safer to walk for pedestrians and cyclists.
Question 3: Financial sustainability
Communities rely on various taxing, bond measures, and grants to support infrastructure. At the same time, there is ample evidence that creating walkable (and bike-able) urbanism with destinations easily accessible without a car generates significant wealth that can be taxed. What will you do to move El Cerrito toward a financially sustainable urban form that reaps the benefits of walkability?
El Cerrito has done significant work moving forward transit-oriented development along San Pablo Avenue. There are now many more homes located along this transit spine with easy walking and biking access to the Ohlone Greenway, to several AC Transit lines, and to the two BART stations. This housing development has also spurred retail and restaurant growth, including the forthcoming store and restaurants at the Mayfair housing development. Retail depends on people living nearby so as we build more housing along San Pablo and at the two BART stations, this will spur more retail development, which will add to the City’s tax base and make the City more enjoyable for residents throughout the City.
Many of the projects approved along San Pablo Avenue have not been built due to the challenge of securing investments with high interest rates – a problem that is not unique to El Cerrito. Now that interest rates are going down, it will be critical for the City to work with developers to ensure as many of these projects as possible move forward. It will also be important for the City to continue to work closely with BART on the development at El Cerrito Plaza BART station, and to begin work on planning a mixed use development at del Norte BART station. And as these developments are built, the City needs to improve walking and biking infrastructure to make it safe for folks to get around without a car.
Questions from Transbay Coalition
Link to page with candidate’s answers