Thread by @OakDOT

THREAD: Today let’s talk about Oakland's next paving plan! We’ve been presenting community meetings the past two weeks (schedule here: buff.ly/2JrL8uk), but if you haven’t made it out to them, here’s a thread with the same info! @oakland #oakmtg 1/

[Edit: Our publishing platform didn't connect this as a thread; trying again!]

Some quick background: in the last decade, our paving budget fluctuated significantly! /2

With limited, fluctuating funding, Oakland established an “80/20” policy in 2007, and carried it over in 2014. Under the 80/20 rule, 80% of any paving dollars were spent on major streets to keep them in good condition. 20% went to residential streets. /3

This was important! Major streets are what we drive/bike/bus/walk on for the majority of our trips in Oakland. More than half of Oakland’s major streets each carry more than 15,000 vehicle trips a day. /4

And in *some ways* the 80/20 policy had some good outcomes. In 2012, less than half of our major streets were in good or excellent condition. In 2018, we hit 60% of major streets in good or excellent condition. /5

At the same time, our residential and collector streets started fading fast. In 2012, less than 30% of Oakland’s local streets were in poor condition. Now, it's 60%. Browse a map of current street conditions in Oakland here: buff.ly/2ugox9J /6

Thanks to Oakland voters, we finally have money for paving. This spring we’re proposing a paving plan that would deliver $100M in repaving over 3 years, 3x our current annual spending. Of this $100M, we're proposing 75% be spent on local streets. /7

How are we proposing which streets to pave? A traditional approach would only focus on street condition. We would rehab some local streets in really bad condition, rehab a few streets in somewhat better condition, and perform preventative maintenance on the majority of miles. /8

This is a paving program, so street condition is of course important. But in Oakland, other factors matter too. Both Measure KK and City Council's adopted prioritization process direct us consider equity and safety factors in our spending, in addition to street condition. /9

To add these factors to the paving program, we prioritize major streets by street condition and crash history. This is so we can keep our major streets in good condition, and so we can frontload safety improvements on the streets where the most fatal and severe crashes occur. /10

For our local streets program, we’re proposing to prioritize funds by what we call "planning areas." Planning areas are just a simple way of referring to different parts of Oakland. They’re bigger than neighborhoods but smaller (and different) than Council Districts. /11

The 9 planning areas have been used in our ped plan (buff.ly/2FjbMAh ) & our bike plan (buff.ly/2OiZtue ). We’ve found they’re helpful for citywide plans, because the areas can be quite distinct from each other, in geography & demographics. /12

For ex: Eastlake/Fruitvale has 24% of the city’s residents, 28% of the city’s underserved residents, & 17% of the worst local streets. Meanwhile, N. Oakland Hills has almost the same number of bad street miles (62 vs 68) but just 6% of city pop & 2% of underserved residents. /13

Who lives where and how are they impacted by bad local streets? This chart compares the share of local street miles in poor condition and share of underserved populations across the planning areas. /14

We take those two factors—street condition & equity—to help determine how to fund local streets paving. Central/East Oakland has 18% of Oakland’s bad street miles and is home to 29% of Oakland’s underserved communities, so it gets 24% of funding for local streets. /15

To select individual streets, we first identified the worst streets near schools. When we pave, we can also perform Safe Routes to School fixes like refreshing crosswalks, adding neighborhood bikeways, fixing curb ramps, & repairing sidewalks. /16

In our outreach so far, folks have asked what equity means. This is the City’s definition: it’s when identity—such as race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation or expression—has no detrimental effect on opportunities & outcomes for Oaklanders. /17

Are we there yet? In a word, no. Our Dept of Race & Equity’s recent Equity Indicators Report tells us that there are current and historic disparities that impact Oaklanders’ lives, and these disparities fall along lines of race, income, and ability. buff.ly/2uoc3Nq /18

In this context, prioritizing the needs of underserved communities in the paving program is a step toward addressing these historic and current disparities. So with that intro, check out our draft map of streets! buff.ly/2YaXdr2 /19

We can’t get to every street that needs to be repaved in 3 years, but we’re trying to get to as many as we can--and we’re trying to do paving in a way that reflects our core values of equity & safety. Thanks for reading, and let us know what you think: bit.ly/repaveoaklands… /20