Roadwork planned for Berkeley: Long-term improvements to a problematic intersection in West Berkeley are a long way off, but interim repairs that we’ve been monitoring over the last three months are around the corner. The busy Gilman Street and Interstate 80 intersection has generated more complaints to ChronicleWatch than any other Bay Area spot. ChronicleWatch first reported on hazardous traffic conditions at the intersection -- with four on- and off-ramps, two frontage roads and nonstop cross traffic from Gilman -- in 2004 after Bill Fleig told us he didn’t know a single person who wasn’t terrified of driving through it. City officials said they were considering a future improvement project and added striping under the overpass temporarily to help direct traffic. In February, ChronicleWatch revisited the intersection after several new tipsters, like Maureen Dixon, complained that eroded paving and worn lane and crosswalk striping in the area made conditions even worse. Last week, Peter Hillier, assistant city manager for transportation, told us that last winter the city received $1.3 million in federal money, as well as local matching funds, to address the intersection’s traffic problems in the long term. The project is still in the planning stages, and work on the intersection is a couple of years off, he said. Meantime, crews will fill potholes in the next few weeks and refresh striping on Gilman near the intersection this summer.
Who’s responsible: Claudette Ford, Berkeley public works director, (510) 981-6300; publicworks@ci.berkeley.ca.us |
