College: An Avenue for Change

College Ave is an important north-south corridor in the City of Berkeley, extending from the southeast edge of the UC Berkeley campus down into Oakland. It is home to a mix ofresidential and commercial buildings and is well known for its quaint community character,especially within the Elmwood District. This makes it not only an important link in the street network, but also a bustling destination for many. Vehicles, buses, bikes, and pedestrians share the narrow corridor, which can lead to conflicts between users. The corridor has been identified as one of three “Priority Development Areas” in the City to be upzoned, which would entail changing parcel-level zoning codes to incentivize denser development. Though the City currently has no plans to improve the right-of-way along with the parcel-level zoning codes, this will be vital to ensuring a functioning and thriving CollegeAve as density increases in the years to come. Our report identifies existing conditions for College Ave and uses this information, along with guidance from City staff and other stakeholders, to provide recommendations for right-of-way and other transportation improvements. Our recommendations focus primarily on the portion of College Ave from Bancroft Way to Ashby Ave, though some recommendations are applicable to the entire street within Berkeley borders. Based on ourobservations and meetings with stakeholders, we chose to use safety and community vitality as the guiding principles for our report.