UC Berkeley city planning students pave the way for Oxford Street improvements
The City of Berkeley greenlights a street redesign based on the work of Master of City Planning students, continuing the College of Environmental Design’s tradition of making tangible impacts in our community.
In May, the Berkeley City Council unanimously approved legislation authored by Councilmember Igor Tregub and co-sponsored by Councilmember Cecilia Lunaparra (BA Urban Studies 2024) to install safety improvements along Oxford Street, a high-traffic corridor that borders downtown and the UC Berkeley campus. The legislation was based in part on comprehensive research and recommendations by UC Berkeley Master of City Planning students.
In Professor Karen Trapenberg Frick’s fall 2023 transportation planning studio, Master of City Planning students Jerome Baker, Nathan Carlson, Katie Heuser, and Rachel Strangeway developed a proposal for the segment of Oxford Street between Virginia Avenue and Bancroft Way. The city’s 2019 Vision Zero Action Plan identified this stretch as one of the Berkeley streets that accounted for the most traffic injuries and deaths. At the same time, it is a major pedestrian entrance to campus. The students’ plan — dubbed Oxford for All — prioritizes safety and connectivity, while considering how a redesign could foster vibrant, inclusive public spaces.
“The Oxford-Fulton corridor is one of the most hazardous in District 4,” says Councilmember Igor Tregub, who represents the downtown area on Berkeley City Council and authored legislation to bring safety improvements to the corridor. “The Oxford for All student project clearly demonstrated the need for protected bike lanes and pedestrian safety improvements, and I’m thrilled that the City Council unanimously supported that vision.”
The comprehensive plan serves all users and stitches together the city and the campus
Oxford for All is a comprehensive approach that draws on three planning principles — the complete streets framework, inclusive/universal design, and placemaking/placekeeping — to promote efficiency and safety for pedestrians, cyclists and scooter riders, transit riders, and drivers. The plan also recommends activating underused public spaces to encourage social interaction, create third spaces, and support commercial and retail uses. On a symbolic level, the team sought to transform Oxford from a barrier between the city and campus into a welcoming gateway at one of the university’s main entrances.
— Berkeley Councilmember Igor Tregub
The 71-page illustrated report, also publicly available as a website, identifies both short- and long-term strategies for improvement. It recommends interventions such as installing bollard curb extensions and painted crossings to calm traffic, widening sidewalks and adding pedestrian amenities like lighting and walk signal lengthening, implementing protected bike lanes, adding trees and other landscaping, and limiting parking to one side of the street.
As the student team wrote in the report, “The [current] street design prioritizes driving, with wide streets, narrow sidewalks, and poor facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists. The lack of character means the street is a psychological boundary between Berkeley’s downtown and campus.”
The team based these recommendations on extensive research: historical context research, academic literature review, review of relevant planning documents and plans, interviews with professional and academic subject matter experts, case studies of other urban university campuses, review of planned developments, pedestrian and cyclist counts, community outreach, and a survey of businesses.
The report concludes: “Oxford for All is about the person that sold their bike because they didn’t feel comfortable cycling in Berkeley and the Berkeley High School student that needs somewhere to hang out after school. Oxford for All is about the small businesses that depend on foot traffic in the corridor and the person with a disability who can’t stand for long periods of time. Through collaboration and strong vision, the future of Oxford Street can be a space for everyone.”
Berkeley alum shepherds Oxford for All to unanimous city council approval
UC Berkeley alum Sam Greenberg (BA 2022), who double-majored in urban studies and political economy, was instrumental in connecting the students to the city and bringing the project to life. First, while working as a legislative aide for Councilmember Rigel Robinson, he proposed the Oxford Street redesign to Professor Frick as a possible project for her transportation planning studio students.
— Sam Greenberg, Walk Bike Berkeley
Greenberg recognized the importance of rethinking Oxford Street. “It’s crazy that we let this high-speed corridor divide the official entrance to campus and downtown Berkeley, quite literally.” The urgency of rethinking Oxford Street was underscored by a series of severe injuries and even a fatality along the thoroughfare.
After leaving his legislative aide role, Greenberg continued to advocate for the project through his involvement with Walk Bike Berkeley and presented the Oxford for All report to the newly elected Councilmember Igor Tregub. He then used his familiarity with Berkeley’s policy process to co-author a council referral with Councilmember Tregub’s office. An additional co-author of this referral, Sara Cerami of Councilmember Lunaparra’s office, had served earlier with Greenberg as a client for the MCP transportation studio project.
The referral document directly cites the CED students’ Oxford for All plan and is illustrated with renderings from their report drawn by Katie Heuser (MCP 2024), one of the plan’s authors.
“The report’s coherent vision for a redesign, based on deep research and community engagement, was key in convincing the city council to undertake this project,” says Greenberg. “ And the compelling visuals were invaluable in conveying the vision to the council and allaying any fears. The report was highly impactful because it provided an up-to-date plan and evidence prior to the official process.”
The City Council unanimously passed Tregub and Lunaparra’s referral. It directs the Department of Public Works to implement strong safety measures, including the proposed bike lane and pedestrian improvements, when the street is repaved (currently scheduled for 2028).
The Oxford for All project is a powerful example of the ways CED students are leveraging their academic expertise to drive meaningful urban change. Without the input of CED students, the street would have likely been repaved with few improvements, a common occurrence when there is no specific council direction, says Greenberg. “The Oxford for All report was crucial.”
“This project was particularly meaningful for everyone on our team, since we were all UC Berkeley students and Berkeley residents,” says Heuser. “We knew from experience that this segment of Oxford Street was neither a comfortable street to walk, bike, or take the bus, nor was it a destination, even though it’s a prime location between campus and downtown. The City of Berkeley has made great progress in bicycle safety recently, and I am grateful to have played a small part in advancing it on Oxford Street.”