~More bike space, faster boarding, quieter ride, lower emissions
Ferry riders at the Alameda Main Street Terminal will soon be boarding the MV Hydrus, the cleanest running 400 passenger ferry in the world. The state-of-the-art ferry is designed for quicker on-boarding and off-boarding, faster speeds, low noise and vibration, and low emissions. The bicycle storage capacity will be more than doubled to 50 from the current capacity of 20 on the MV Encinal, which it will replace.
Captain Al Lewis and the Hydrus crew were running through training exercises in the Oakland Estuary on March 28. They stopped at the Main Street Terminal just after the Encinal departed with passengers. The Encinal was built in 1985 and was owned by the City of Alameda during the period when the city operated the ferry service to San Francisco. At 27 meters in length, the Encinal looked small by comparison to the 41-foot-long Hydrus.
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) issued a new regional planning document on August 30, 2016, suggesting the amount of housing needed in Alameda to meet state goals. MTC is requesting input from local jurisdictions.
Alameda City Planner Andrew Thomas slammed the commission’s recommendations as being woefully out of touch with Alameda’s existing land uses and its limited regional transit connections.
Approved plan for Priority Development Area (PDA) at Alameda Point.
MTC’s forecast calls for adding roughly 10,000 new homes in Alameda by 2040, with the majority to be added in existing neighborhoods, outside of so-called Priority Development Areas (PDAs) like Alameda Point and the Northern Waterfront. This could only be accomplished if a host of improbable and unrealistic events were to occur, according to Thomas.Continue reading “Transportation agency calls for more housing in Alameda”
The new residential and commercial developer at Alameda Point has set aside $10 million toward the construction of a passenger ferry terminal at the Seaplane Lagoon. The Bay Area’s ferry agency – the Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) – however, has made it clear there is currently no funding to operate a ferry there.
WETA “will entirely exhaust its available operating subsidies on an annual basis, relying upon projected increases in ridership and fares to cover increasing operating costs for existing services,” stated a draft 10-year Short Range Transit Plan that WETA issued in January for public comment. “WETA’s ability to increase service levels and meet future demand for ferry service will be restricted until new regional or local sources of operating subsidy are secured,” the draft stated.
Ferry passengers boarding at the Alameda Main Street Terminal bound for San Francisco. The popular Main Street Terminal at the north side of Alameda Point on the Oakland Estuary will continue in operation, even if new ferry service comes to the Seaplane Lagoon. Parking here will be expanded in mid-2016.
WETA’s revenue picture is more limited than other regional transit agencies, such as BART. In WETA’s case, half of its operations funding comes from fares. Most of the other half — $15.3 million — comes from bridge tolls through Regional Measure 2, which was passed in 2005 adding a $1 bridge toll. A Harbor Bay parcel assessment funds 10 percent of the Harbor Bay service. Continue reading “Seaplane Lagoon ferry service in limbo”
Ferry commuters driving to the Main Street Ferry Terminal will find a new parking lot option this fall, pending timely work plan approvals by the city.
Since 2013, passenger boardings have increased by over 50 percent at the Main Street ferry terminal, far exceeding the capacity of the parking lot. Commuters have been filling up an adjacent unpaved parcel next to the dog park, as well as the shoulders of Main Street.
Ferry riders leaving the Main Street Ferry Terminal in the background and walking toward makeshift parking lot. Dog park is on the right.
The Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) initiated a ferry terminal access study for the Main Street and Harbor Bay terminals in 2014. They have been discussing access improvements with city staff, the Transportation Commission, and the community.
As a result of the dialogue, the city has offered the use of the nearby O’ Club parking lot, across the street from the terminal, to WETA through a license agreement. The lot is currently used to park city vehicles.
O Club parking lot. Main Street to the left.
At its June 4 meeting, the WETA board of directors approved spending $250,000 to make improvements, in exchange for free use of the lot. WETA will resurface and stripe the lot, construct ADA-compliant walkways that lead to a new crosswalk that WETA will also construct across Main Street.
The crosswalk will connect with an existing paved pathway on the western end of the main parking lot. An existing vehicle entryway on Main Street will become the entrance to the O Club lot.
Main Street entrance to O Club parking lot. Oakland Estuary and arriving ferry on the left.
“In terms of the mid-term improvements at Main Street, the city has let us know that the dog park cannot be converted to parking until a replacement at Estuary Park is open,” said Kevin Connolly, WETA’s manager of Planning & Development. The new home for the dog park at Estuary Park on Mosley Avenue between Singleton Avenue and Alameda Landing is tied to the availability of funds for the second phase of the park. Those funds will be secured through a combination of developer fees and grants.
The first phase, four acres of sports fields, is expected to begin in 2016. The four acres of the second phase is designed as a community park space with restrooms, playgrounds, picnic areas, basketball courts, open lawn, and a dog park with sections for big dogs and small dogs.
Close-up of community park section of Estuary Park, with dog park located in upper portion.
WETA was working with AC Transit to re-introduce bus service to the terminal. However, Connolly said that AC Transit recently scuttled plans for a Line 50 that would have carried passengers in a loop around the Island City to the Main Street ferry terminal. The city learned of this last Wednesday. In explaining its decision, AC Transit told Connolly that when it ran buses to the ferry terminal in 2009 “nobody rode them.”
Connolly points out that in 2009 the ferry carried 350 passengers a day with hourly departures. Today the ferry provides service to some 1,800 passengers with departures every 30 minutes. AC Transit also told Connolly that the bus service was not feasible because WETA does not charge for parking. Connolly questioned that criterion, pointing out that South Shore Center and other shopping malls do not charge for parking and AC Transit serves South Shore Center and these other malls.
“WETA is disappointed that AC Transit cannot see that demand warrants local bus service at the Main Street Terminal,” Connolly said. He added that AC Transit’s proposal would have offered ferry riders more choice in how they get to the terminal.
With parking relief in the pipeline, WETA plans to focus on more non-auto options for getting riders to and from the ferry terminal. “The implementation of an overflow parking lot, in addition to future improvements for pedestrian, bicycle, and transit access are vitally important in terms of WETA’s ability to continue accommodating future ridership demand at the Main Street ferry terminal,” said Nina Rannells, WETA’s executive director, in a June 4, 2015 staff report.
Measure BB: Voters approved Alameda County Transportation Commission’s Sales Tax, Measure BB on November 4, 2014. It’s priorities are to expand mass transit, improve highway infrastructure, improve local streets and roads, improve bicycle and pedestrian safety, and expand special transportation for seniors and people with disabilities.
Line 50 added, then removed: Line 50 was added in AC Transit’s March 2015 draft alignment plan. At the July 8 meeting of the City of Alameda – AC Transit Liaison Committee, AC Transit announced that is was removing the line. If brought into service, Line 50-Encinal would run between the Fruitvale BART Station and the Alameda Main Street Ferry Terminal every 20 to 30 minutes between 6 am and 10 pm. The route, subject to city approval, would enter Alameda via the Fruitvale Bridge and turn from Tilden Way onto Fernside Blvd. It will continue down Fernside Boulevard, right on High Street, right on Encinal Avenue, into Central Avenue, right on Webster Street, left on Appezzato Memorial Parkway, and right on Main Street to the terminal.
Line 50 service to schools: Line 50 would provide bus service to these schools along the route: Alameda Community Learning Center on 3rd Street at Appezzato Memorial Parkway; Academy of Alameda Middle School on Pacific Avenue on 4th Street; College of Alameda on Appezzato Memorial Parkway at Webster Street; Encinal High School on Central Avenue at 3rd Street.
WETA 2009 Transition Plan: In 2007, WETA was created by passage of SB 976 as the successor to the Water Transit Authority. In June of 2009, WETA issued its transition plan in conjunction with the cities of Alameda and Vallejo, and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. The 2009 plan anticipated closing down the Main Street Ferry Terminal once a new ferry terminal is built nearby in the Seaplane Lagoon at Alameda Point.2009 Transition Plan
Due to a surge in ridership, current plans assume that the Main Street Ferry Terminal will continue to operate after the Seaplane Lagoon Terminal is constructed. The recently approved development agreement for Site A, adjacent to the Seaplane Lagoon, includes a $10 million commitment from the developer toward the new terminal. WETA has yet to complete its feasibility study for the new terminal.
Alameda Point vs. Main Street: Alameda Point development will attempt to discourage automobile usage. Residents will be able to walk to the Seaplane Lagoon ferry terminal. Shuttles will offer rides from Alameda Point to Oakland BART stations. AC Transit is expected to operate a rapid transit bus from Alameda Point through the Tube into Oakland. Meanwhile, at the Main Street ferry terminal a mile away, AC Transit will provide no assistance in discouraging automobile usage.
Alameda Point is on the cusp of a new era in civilian reuse. Plans for construction of residential neighborhoods and commercial space are taking form, alongside growing productive reuse of aircraft hangars. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is poised to begin the first phase of their $240 million clinic and columbarium project. In addition, the Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) is studying plans for accommodating their increasing ferry ridership.
Construction of the ferry maintenance facility at Alameda Point is delayed another year. Originally scheduled to begin in August of this year, the project is on hold while the Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) seeks a federal permit allowing for harassment of harbor seals during demolition and construction.
The public, beginning in January of 2014, raised concerns about the harbor seals being displaced at the project site. The Central Bay Operations and Maintenance Facility is slated for construction east of the USS Hornet where the Navy operated a recreational boating dock.
14 harbor seals resting on June 4, 2014, at Alameda Point dock where ferry facility is planned.
Part of the dock structure has sunk, but the main dock and remnant timbers have attracted harbor seals in recent years that manage to haul themselves up onto the wooden islands to rest. In May 2014, a female harbor seal was observed nursing a pup on the old dock and leading the pup in training exercises around the dock area.
Nursing harbor seal pup – May 13, 2014 – Alameda Point
In its permit application published in the Federal Register on September 17, 2014, the description of the type of harassment for which WETA is seeking a permit is limited to sounds emitted during demolition of the existing pilings and hammering in new ones.
The application makes only passing reference to residents having observed seals at the site. The loss of a resting site is not contemplated in the federal review, even though the Marine Mammal Protection Act lists habitat loss as a form of harassment. A haul-out resting site is considered habitat integral to the welfare of seals.
Adult harbor seals with silver pup – May 29, 2014
The permit is being processed as part of a federal Environmental Assessment and is being prepared by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The NMFS is an arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that enforces the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as well as aquatic components of the Endangered Species Act.
The permit being applied for by WETA is called an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA). An IHA “Level A” involves injury to a marine mammal. “Level B” involves disruption of behavioral patterns. The WETA permit is Level B.
The preliminary conclusion of NMFS is that no significant impact will occur, especially in light of the acoustical mitigation measures worked out between WETA and NMFS. The mitigation measures call for gradual start-ups to demolition and dock construction work, a sound curtain in the water, and NMFS-approved biological monitors.
Silver-colored harbor seal pup nursing on May 13, 2014.
Despite the fact that a regular haul-out site will be eliminated with the dock removal, NMFS concludes, “No permanent impacts to marine mammal habitat are proposed to or would occur as a result of the proposed Project.” WETA’s proposed facility “would not modify the existing habitat. Therefore, no restoration of the habitat would be necessary,” stated NMFS.
The most recent harbor seal data for the area cited by NMFS in the application is from 1998. It highlights Breakwater Island, the rocky barrier forming the south side of the Alameda Point Channel, as “the only haul-out site in the Central Bay that is accessible to seals throughout the full tidal range.”
The Alameda Point seals have been seen again in the project area in recent weeks after an absence of a few months, which corresponds with behavior predicted by NMFS. Citing harbor seal research, NMFS stated, “Haul-out sites are relatively consistent from year to year, and females have been recorded returning to their own natal haul-out when breeding.”
The public can submit comments no later than October 17, 2014. Pending review of the comments, the NMFS may impose additional mitigation measures. Comments can be sent via email to:itp.guan@noaa.gov. Paper mail to: Jolie Harrison, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
Adult harbor seal with pup at proposed ferry facility site, Alameda Point, May 13, 2014.
WETA will also need a permit from the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, which follows state rules regarding marine mammal impacts. WETA will be leasing the site from the city, and still needs to conclude a lease agreement and obtain a building permit. Demolition and dredging at the site can only occur between August 1 and November 30 due to foraging by least terns in the spring and summer and fish migration in late fall. The permit is for 2015.
The project was authorized by WETA in 2009 and has been undergoing review ever since. It will include berths for 11 ferries, a service yard and a four-story workshop and administration building. The facility would also function as an emergency operation center for passenger service in the event of an emergency.
Alameda Point Environmental Report 