Rob AriasThe City of Emeryville officially published the draft CEQA environmental document for the contentious 40th Street Multimodal Project on November 24, triggering the required 45-day public review period, which closes tonight at midnight.
Once public comments are collected, the city will compile and address them in a formal “Response to Comments” document to be presented at a future City Council meeting.
Biking and transit advocates have been enthusiastic about the project, citing the dedicated, protected lanes it would introduce. Local businesses along the corridor, on the other hand, have been far less receptive, arguing that the project’s benefits come at the expense of “legacy businesses” that have operated in the area for decades. Some fear increased gridlock, impeded deliveries, reduced access and egress, and impacts severe enough to threaten their viability.
Phase I of the $32 million dollar project—now in design and planning since 2017—includes the closure of two cross streets to accommodate a two-way cycle track on the northern side of 40th Street. The phase also proposes converting an existing traffic lane into a dedicated bus lane in either direction for the Emery Go-Round and AC Transit.
Despite the project’s lengthy planning timeline, several business owners say outreach has been insufficient, with some claiming they only recently learned about the project—and through channels other than the city.
A group of local businesses and property owners along the corridor has been organizing for more than a year in an effort to influence the project’s design. In August 2025, the group launched the website Reconsider40th.com to communicate their concerns.
Among their arguments is that the proposed bike route is redundant, given the already bike-friendly Park Avenue, and that diverting traffic from 40th Street could push vehicles onto neighboring streets. They also contend that cyclists traveling to Bay Street from the west would be better served using the Horton Street Bike Boulevard and South Bayfront Bridge.
Business owners further argue that the announcement of a future Sutter Health hospital represents a significant change for the area and that the multimodal project should be paused until the hospital’s traffic impacts are better understood. The upcoming opening of Tokyo Central Market, they say, will place additional strain on the corridor, and a projected three-year construction period could prove highly disruptive.
“At a minimum, the proposed two-way cycle track—which would eliminate or impair access to transportation and emergency services for residents of 1440 By the Bay—should be evaluated through an ADA lens before proceeding.”
One of the businesses raising concerns is 1440 By the Bay (formerly Watermark by the Bay), an assisted-living community whose main entrance fronts the project area. The facility submitted a letter warning of potential risks to the 175 seniors who reside there.
“The proposed project would eliminate the multi-space white-curb drop-off zone and additional parking spaces directly in front of our facility,” 1440 By the Bay Executive Director Robert Alvarado. “Very few of our residents can drive. The white space provides our residents with direct access to East Bay Paratransit, family members, and others who transport them to medical appointments and other activities. This space is used dozens of times daily. Emergency Medical Service vehicles also routinely use this space to respond to residents’ emergency needs.”
1/7 Update/Correction – While readers have pointed out that the drop-off zone would be retained in the redesign, Alvarado’s confusion over the matter tracks with his concern that no specific outreach with his facility was conducted, “nor is there any mention of outreach to senior and disability communities generally.”
Alvarado also expressed concern that residents would need to cross the cycle track, noting that the higher speeds of increasingly common e-bikes could make crossings more dangerous.
He further cited a video highlighting safety concerns related to “floating bus islands,” which are included in the project design, and noted that the American Council of the Blind has called for a moratorium on such infrastructure.
“At a minimum, the proposed two-way cycle track—which would eliminate or impair access to transportation and emergency services for residents of 1440 By the Bay—should be evaluated through an ADA lens before proceeding,” Alvarado concluded.
Even for cyclists, the proposed cycle track along this stretch of 40th Street may not be ideal. The existing bike lane on the southern side of 40th Street and the eastern side of Shellmound Street would be eliminated, requiring riders to cross the roadway multiple times in certain cases.
For example, cyclists traveling from 40th Street to Bay Street would need to cross to the west side of Shellmound Street at the IKEA entrance before crossing back again. Riders heading south toward Target would no longer be able to turn right into the parking lot from the 40th Street bridge and would instead be forced to take a more circuitous route.
Additional environmental docs can be viewed on the CEQA website, the MySocial Point website and the City’s website. Video of the most recent City Council meeting at which the project advanced can be viewed below beginning at the 1:02:37 mark
Comments on the project may be submitted to Ryan O’Connell, Senior Civil Engineer, City of Emeryville, 1333 Park Avenue, Emeryville, CA 94608, or via email at roconnell@emeryville.org.
All public comments will be compiled and addressed in a “Response to Comments” document, which is expected to be presented at a City Council meeting tentatively scheduled for February 17 or March 3, 2026.
The city has a civil engineer? After seeing their design of the Hollis street beautification I would seriously reconsider their worth.
This multi-mode transit route is a group of poorly derived intentions and a load of virtue signaling (I guess we can hang that on the former bike mayor).
What does 40th street really do as far as handling the modes of traffic? Coming from Oakland to experience a mile of the grand delusion to dump you out at the Bay Street area? That seems like a vanity project at best. What impact does the San Pablo redesign have on this? And as stated, the proposed hospital?
This article should be updated with a correction, the white loading spaces in front of 1440 By The Bay are maintained for ADA and paratransit access. Emeryville even provided a rendering of this on the official project website. https://fp.mysocialpinpoint.com/40thstreetmultimodal/part1
Would the correction be to what we published or the letter that was submitted by 1440?
Was this adjustment made in reaction to the letter or was this always there and just not clear to 1440?
I’m happy to make a correction but I need to know if the error was on my part or theirs.
The issue is publishing this quote in it’s entirely without pointing to the fact that the white zone is not being removed and is used as the header picture of this article.
“The proposed project would eliminate the multi-space white-curb drop-off zone and additional parking spaces directly in front of our facility,” 1440 By the Bay Executive Director Robert Alvarado. “Very few of our residents can drive. The white space provides our residents with direct access to East Bay Paratransit, family members, and others who transport them to medical appointments and other activities. This space is used dozens of times daily. Emergency Medical Service vehicles also routinely use this space to respond to residents’ emergency needs.”
It’s possible that the director (who I believe is new) had missed that a white space would be granted as part of this project. But his other points remain valid — a loading zone is much less helpful to senior citizens (much less the general public) if goods/people/wheelchairs must cross a bike lane teeming with high-speed e-assist vehicles. My experience has been that bicyclists are even worse than drivers at stopping for pedestrians (as demonstrated by the video in this article), so I appreciate and share these concerns.
Agreed with this. The other aspects of this project sound fine (I’m all for making the area nicer to transit and reducing car lanes) but clearing the way for a 2 lane bike path then forcing pedestrians (and especially seniors) to cross it to access the bus and cross the rest if the street sounds like trouble. I’d urge people to contact the chief engineer to ask that traffic calming methods be used on the bike lanes (I’ve seen things like narrowing the lanes or installing bollards near pedestrian crossing areas suggested to encourage cyclists to slow down through these areas).
The plan is totally ridiculous and actually destroys 40th Street amenities for pedestrians, cyclists, transit, small business,l first responders an on and on . . . Our city needs ALL of the populations we seek to serve but these specific 40th streete plans work against ALL of that . . . Maybe the traffic engineer has never even gone onto 40th street between 4:30 and 6 p.m. or loo If I could, I’d attach my photos of what has actually happened on Hollis Street: pedestrians’ feet within centimeters of moving traffic. You don’t need a Ph.D. in engineering to produce that mess.
So excited to see this project finally start. Yes it will be a bit painful but the end result will make 40th street thrive.
Only other thing that is puzzling is why did you only provide quotes and analysis from the opposition of this project and not touch on any of the benefits or talk to anyone in support? Is this a news or opinion piece because as it stands it feels very one sided to me.
I would love to see city investment along 40th, and support Emeryville’s continued push for better bike infrastructure. But I genuinely think that this is the wrong place for it. We’ve heard from the businesses: almost all oppose this project, and are legitimately worried about what it will mean for their survival. I am curious why you think that this project will make 40th Street thrive.
40th Street is the home to many businesses and is arguably thriving already, just not in a bike-centric way. But I think that, as part of a balanced society in a city that is otherwise extremely bike friendly, we ought to accept this diversity as part of what it takes to maintain (not to mention pay for) the rest of the city’s agenda and budget. Hamstringing the economic hub of the city, which by the way will be an ugly bike ride no matter what, seems like a vanity project more than something which is realistically going to improve quality of life or put our city on a good track going forward. I’d much rather see council focus their efforts on our schools.
40th street is a car sewer. This project makes it a great place for pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders. Places like that always have thriving businesses. We are not special or unique. Businesses that don’t see that don’t belong here.
Focusing on schools is a bad argument. Of course I want to see all parts of our community get investments. The budget for this project comes from a program is specifically for pedestrian improvements it cannot be used for anything else.
I appreciate your opinion and am open to a healthy debate but I don’t want to engage with anonymous folks so I won’t respond to any more anonymous comments.
Thank you for the healthy dialog, Lev. While I share your enthusiasm for bikes, really I do, I don’t think that it is fair or rational for us to decide that businesses (or residences for that matter) which rely on cars for very reasonable reasons (want to buy a granite countertop on a bicycle?) don’t belong in our city. They are owned by and employ hardworking people who contribute to our society, and fund our city, including some bike projects. They sell and/or produce things that we and others want. They’ve called Emeryville home for generations in some cases. Who are you to say they don’t belong?
How can one justify one paragraph saying business owners just found out and another paragraph announcing other businesses owners have been meeting for a year to rally against the plans? That makes no sense. At that point you’d say the onus was on business owners to see what is going on in the community and help each other. Sounds like they don’t live here and don’t care about the impacts that dangerous driving does. The work needs to get sooner than later.
With all due respect, I believe that the onus of notification is squarely on the city (who is attempting to change business access and street layouts drastically). Twisting this into being the fault of business owners is not realistic — they have enough issues these days and shouldn’t need to worry about their own city planning changes that make it harder for customers and goods to reach them. The city did send “a total of 454 Local Outreach Mailers … to residents, businesses, and property [owners]” (quoted from city website). This seems very inadequate given the large business population in Emeryville, which is probably why a few businesses know about it and are resisting it, but many are just learning about it. There are also new businesses who probably never had a chance to get a mailer.
The ironic thing is that the city relies on these businesses for its operating budget (more so than most cities do, due to our uniquely strong commercial presence). So we’ll see how this experiment turns out… really isn’t a gamble I’d take as a council member!
They cant be both “legacy businesses” and new business at the same time. This project has been in plans for almost 10 years. We don’t need any businesses in our community that can’t be bothered to participate in making it a better place for everyone.
This is prime real estate and will be worth even more when it’s a thriving multimodal corridor.
The point was that Emeryville has a lot of businesses (at least currently). Some were notified and are resisting it, others weren’t aware of it and are now upset.
I would be very careful with the “prime real estate” argument. Having retail locations like Home Depot or Granite Expo sit empty would cost the city tons of money in lost sales tax revenue (both of those businesses were among the top 10 generators of sales tax revenue for the city and the programs we rely on).
I am replying to EP: the work does NOT need to get done sooner than later if it is not the right work, which this is not. . . I hope voters weigh in . . . and most importantly SHOW UP at council and GoRound meetings. Just because someone found funds that were available for roads doesn’t make these changes sacrosanct and these particular changes are quite damaging.
The article suggests that moving the bikeway to the opposite side of the street from the Target driveway is a downside. But conflicts at that location from drivers turning in and out of the driveway have been the source of many serious injury bike rider crashes. The cycletrack will eliminate this conflict.
Making the turn to Target at Horton, looping around to Halleck, or taking a new path being added via the project north of 40th between Hubbard and Halleck will all remain as options for bike riders.
During discussions on the project the Emeryville bike/walk committee expressed interest in the Phase 2 segment from IKEA to Christie to remain on the east side of the street to eliminate the crossing movement and increase connectivity to shopping destinations.
But now that the new grocery is opening there will be a lot more driveway traffic at that location, so building the bikeway on the west side there probably is for the best.
Unless the entire project is built, it’s going to the same result as the road realignment at the public market. That blunder was made possible by the brain trust of the former mayor and his lackies.
The problem with the Shellmound project at the Public Market is that the bikeway *wasn’t* physically protected, which has led to constant blockages by drivers instead of using the available parking lots and garages. The bike/walk commission members warned against the plan at the time and petitioned to add bikeway protection, but the city engineer at the time didn’t listen. That engineer left the city a few years after. This was all in development a long time ago, before John Bauters was on city council.
I serve on several committees in our city and also live here for decades. 40th Street changes before a Sutter study make NO sense AT ALL and the changes I’ve seen for 40th Street and already on Hollis Street are bizarrely naive, dangerous and bizarrely unrealistic in terms of safety and traffic Flow.
But the burden rests with the City to decide OUR direction. When revenue measures are needed to be on the ballot- for the health of the city what does Council want to do? A dog cannot walk at all if each of its 4 legs is going in a different direction. Council needs to recognize that and move forward in one coherent fashion.
The only person that seems to be for this ridiculous project looks like a typical car-hating hipster bike-bro who likely has a work at home tech sector “job”.
Some one has a massive hard one for Sam Gould
This tracks. If you were to do an overlay of those that support this project, 99% would be white/white adjacent, childless, work from home high income earners who want to use the path recreationally to go pick up their handrolls from Tokyo Central.
And people wonder why families bail from Emeryville as soon as their kids enter grammar school.
Wish I knew the deadline ahead of time.
If you have opinions on the matter, I’d go ahead and email roconnell@emeryville.org. There is typically not a “hard” cut off and there’s a couple day grace period (kinda like mail in ballots).
This comment speaks to something important. The alert on the comment cut off date was from reconsider40th and UNFORTUNATELY NOT the city of emeryville or the project engineer.
The discord around the opposition in the Eville Eye comments, social media, and even from our own mayor (last year’s – Mourra) has been troubling. Most of it dismisses the opposition as big bad businesses that are just interested in maximum short-term profit or that are afraid of change. They say it’ll be so much better for the businesses when the project is done without being specific about how, or being mindful that not all businesses are the same (don’t you think that the businesses know what’s best for themselves?). Even when being told that the elderly and disabled residents of 1440 By the Bay oppose the project because it puts them in danger, they dismiss them as just a straw man for the businesses. They forget that there are real people behind the businesses. Most if not all of the businesses in the affected area are actually small businesses who offer good jobs and provide real value to the world, not big corporations with CEOs who jet off to their private Hawaiian islands and avoid paying taxes. They’re also not being kind to our elderly and disabled residents…I hope that when they reach old age that the younger generations offer them more grace and consideration than they are offering now.
I live in West Oakland and I drive, walk, bike, and ride transit around 40th all the time. I am very excited about much safer 40th will be in the future after this project gets implemented!
Seems like a few signs “Bicyclists Use Park Ave” would have been a lot cheaper and greener (no carbon emissions from pouring new concrete) than this project on 40th Street.
I think the concern regarding the forthcoming changes that Sutter Health will bring is the major reasonable one
Everything else seems likely to be a bunch of hand-wringing.
However, the dust isn’t going to settle on the effects Sutter Health brings until well after 2030. A delay now could mean a delay for another half decade or more, and I do feel the changes to Hollis don’t necessarily justify the tiny amount of bicycle traffic that benefits.