Nov. 12: Give input to add safeguards at Elmwood intersection

Join a virtual community meeting to improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists at a busy Elmwood neighborhood intersection.  

At the November 12 event, City staff will present two proposals to improve the intersection of Derby and Warring Streets. Participants will have time to ask questions and submit feedback after the presentation. 

Since 2011, there have been 15 collisions reported at the intersection. Two collisions involved pedestrians, including one fatality. That data placed the intersection on the City’s High-Injury Street network, as identified in the Vision Zero Action Plan. 

According to Berkeley police data, the most common factors for collisions were: inattentive turning and signaling; not obeying speed laws; and driving under the influence. 

Those factors shaped the proposed changes to the intersection: 

• To slow vehicle turning movements, close the northbound slip lane for car traffic
• To reduce pedestrian exposure to moving car traffic, install pedestrian refuge islands in the middle of the crosswalks
• To increase pedestrian visibility to motorists, extend curbs into the street  

If you live, walk, commute, or take public transit by the intersection, consider joining the workshop:

For accessibility accommodations, contact Transportation@berkeleyca.gov.

Community feedback will help selection process

The intersection of Derby and Warring Streets serves as a stop for an AC Transit bus line and a Berkeley Lab shuttle line. It also borders the Clark Kerr campus, which houses hundreds of UC Berkeley students.  

The intersection sees heavy morning and afternoon commute traffic, including residents and students moving on foot and on bicycle.  

By attending the virtual community meeting, you can inform the best proposal to increase safety at the intersection. 

Community feedback will be considered alongside other factors, such as cost and feasibility in design and construction. Public Works will recommend one proposal to the City Council, which will vote on the recommendation in the coming months.

improvements part of city-wide effort to reduce roadway deaths and injuries

The City is working to reduce traffic deaths and injuries on all its streets, as outlined in the Vision Zero Action Plan. The City has completed or begun projects to: 

• Improve bicyclist infrastructure with protected bicycle lanes in Downtown and Southside neighborhoods
• Make it easier and safer for pedestrian and wheelchaired users to cross intersections next to or near the UC Berkeley campus on Southside
• Improve intersections next to Berkeley High School and Washington Elementary School in Downtown 

Come join us virtually on November 12 to learn how the City can improve safety at the intersection of Derby and Warring.

Links

• November 12 meeting event page
  • Meeting Zoom link
• Zachary’s Corner Safety Improvements Project
• Vision Zero Action Plan
  • Milvia Street Bikeway Improvements Project
  • Southside Complete Streets Project
  • Berkeley High School and Washington Elementary School Safe Routes to School Project