Berkeley Pier with Ferry Access Project

Working with the Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) and the consultant team, the City has concluded this 2-year project, including a rigorous 1-year public process, and has chosen a preferred conceptual plan to reconstruct the currently closed Berkeley Pier and include ferry access. This concept plan includes: (1) evaluation of the structural integrity of the existing pier, (2) development of conceptual alternatives, (3) identification of environmental and regulatory permits and (4) cost estimates. The landside and waterside preferred concepts are described (with visuals) in the December 7, 2021 City Council Session linked below. The next step for this project is to identify $10M -$11M in funding for the Design Development phase, including the environmental review process. Once funding is identified, the City and WETA will execute a second agreement for environmental studies and design development. It is anticipated that this process will take 2-3 years.

Consultant Team

• GHD, Inc.
• Sea Engineering – Underwater Structural Inspection
• Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects – Architectural
• Mott MacDonald – Coastal Engineering
• Bluhon Group – Community Engagement

Public Engagement Process

The Pier-Ferry Planning Study public process involved a community process in the form of four (4) Focus groups in early January, 2021 and three large Community Workshops on January 21, 2021, August 10, 2021, and October 27, 2021. The project was presented at the City Council Worksession on February 16, 2021, followed by a WETA Board of Directors meeting on March 4, 2021. The presentation slides and breakout group notes for these meetings can be found on this webpage below. 

An online questionnaire for the project was conducted to seek broader community feedback. Below is the questionnaire results report.

The goal of these meetings was to receive extensive community feedback to develop a preferred concept for the project. The preferred concept was presented to City Council in December of 2021 and the WETA Board in April of 2022.

Background

The Berkeley Municipal Pier was closed in July, 2015 due to visually observed structural problems on the underside of the concrete decking and pilings. In 2017, the City retained a structural engineering firm (GHD) to assess the problem and develop a range of potential solutions and costs. In 2018, the Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) staff-initiated discussions with City staff regarding the possibility of new ferry service at the Berkeley Waterfront. During those initial discussions, WETA and City staff realized that it could be cost-effective to investigate a single pier that would provide two uses – ferry service and public recreation. In 2019, WETA and the City Council authorized a Memorandum of Understanding Agreement (MOU) to jointly fund a planning study to evaluate the feasibility of a dual-purpose pier. For background details, see the Council Report approval of the MOU on March 12, 2019.