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Hopkins Street Bikeway Referral

At a glance

  • What: A referral to the City Manager to repave Hopkins Street from Sutter Street to San Pablo Avenue with one-way Class IV separated bikeways on each side (minimum five feet wide) between The Alameda and Peralta Avenue / Ohlone Greenway, plus a package of safety, parking and curb-management features.
  • Where it stands: Approved 7-2 on July 28, 2026 as amended. The referral supersedes all earlier Council action on the design of Hopkins Street.
  • Author: Councilmember Kesarwani, co-sponsored by Councilmember Humbert and Mayor Ishii.
  • Next: Public Works advances the Class IV design into detailed engineering plans and conducts outreach to businesses, schools, houses of worship, residents and other stakeholders along the corridor.

What the referral directs

  • Repave Hopkins Street from Sutter Street to San Pablo Avenue; Class IV separated bikeways one-way on each side from The Alameda to Peralta Avenue / Ohlone Greenway, at least five feet wide. The item says the Fire Department presented new information that the safety infrastructure "retains workable emergency access", and that staff judged this configuration the safest while keeping the most curbside parking.
  • Sutter Street to The Alameda: Class II buffered bike lanes on each side (similar to Monterey Avenue) and traffic calming where feasible.
  • Peralta Avenue / Ohlone Greenway to Stannage Avenue: traffic-calming speed cushions where feasible, plus pedestrian safety features compatible with potential future bike lanes.
  • A raised intersection where Hopkins Street meets Monterey Avenue and California Street (similar to the one at Bancroft Way and Telegraph Avenue).
  • Keep pedestrian safety features from the 2022-2023 conceptual design that Public Works still considers appropriate.
  • Redesign and rebuild the Hopkins and Sacramento Streets intersection; assess the Hopkins Street and The Alameda intersection, with reconstruction depending on funding.
  • Bus boarding islands (floating bus stops) at AC Transit stops, with the bikeway routed behind the platform.
  • A comprehensive Curb Management Plan (ADA parking, loading zones, short-term parking, waste collection, metering near commercial and recreational uses) and a feasibility study of extending the Residential Preferential Parking eligibility map to the corridor.

Amendments adopted on July 28

  • Deleted the original street-tree bullet (remove old trees intruding into the street, with 1:1 replacement).
  • Added: assess street trees along the corridor with arborist input and determine minimally invasive treatments where old trees intrude into the usable street width or affect storm drainage.
  • Added: placemaking elements may be considered with available funds after paving and safety infrastructure are prioritized.
  • Added: the referral supersedes all other prior Council action on Hopkins Street design.

Committee review

The Facilities, Infrastructure, Transportation, Environment & Sustainability Committee reviewed the item and sent it to Council with a qualified negative recommendation: reject unless amended to include protected bike lanes from Sutter to Gilman, options for extending bike infrastructure westward to Acton, Peralta or Stannage, immediate identification of funding for all pedestrian, transit and bicycle improvements, and use of existing traffic studies and prior public process to limit delay and cost.

Debate and votes (July 28, 2026)

  • Rules suspended (Ishii/Tregub, all ayes) for a three-hour public comment period; 160 speakers were recorded.
  • Meeting extended to 12:30 a.m. (Tregub/Taplin, 8 ayes, Kesarwani absent), then to 1:00 a.m. (Humbert/Taplin, all ayes).
  • Failed 3-6 (O'Keefe/Blackaby): O'Keefe's supplemental item combining the street-tree language from Kesarwani's item with removal of the word "buffered". Ayes: Bartlett, O'Keefe, Blackaby. Noes: Kesarwani, Taplin, Tregub, Lunaparra, Humbert, Ishii.
  • Failed 4-5 (Blackaby/O'Keefe): Blackaby's supplemental item adding analysis of parking impacts, a timeline for analysis and paving, metrics for considering bike lanes, and when to consider sharrows. Ayes: Bartlett, Tregub, O'Keefe, Blackaby. Noes: Kesarwani, Taplin, Lunaparra, Humbert, Ishii.
  • Carried 7-2 (Kesarwani/Humbert): the item as amended above. Ayes: Kesarwani, Taplin, Bartlett, Tregub, Lunaparra, Humbert, Ishii. Noes: O'Keefe, Blackaby.
  • Supplemental agenda material was submitted by Councilmembers Taplin, O'Keefe and Blackaby. Hundreds of written communications were received, including from Walk Bike Berkeley, Bike East Bay, East Bay for Everyone, the North Berkeley Design Team and the Berkeley Neighborhoods Council Executive Committee.

Sources

Log

2026-07-28 - City Council (regular)

Item 27. After a three-hour public comment period (160 speakers) and two failed supplemental motions, Council approved Kesarwani's referral 7-2 with tree, placemaking and supersession amendments. Noes: O'Keefe and Blackaby.