OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: Dover, Kohl & Partners is excited to announce the adoption of the Downtown Oakland Specific Plan! Based on extensive community engagement over a period of years, the Specific Plan places equity at the center, and aims to increase affordable housing, connect people with jobs and services, and support arts and culture. We were privileged to lead a large team of expert colleagues on this undertaking. Thank you to everyone that contributed over the course of the project, including the citizen volunteers, city staff, Opticos Design, Strategic Economics, Fehr & Peers, Toole Design Group, UrbanAdvantage, Urban Planning Partners, Architecture + History LLC, Baseline Environmental, William Self Associates, I-SEEED, Asian Health Services, Khepera Consulting, Mesu Strategies, Oakulture, PolicyLink, Popuphood, and Race Forward.
Read the City of Oakland press release here.
One of the ideas in the Specific Plan elaborates upon the suggestion of local nonprofit Connect Oakland, who have long advocated for the removal of the Interstate 980 freeway, a gash in the urban fabric that divides West Oakland from Downtown.
Existing conditions, showing the trench of Interstate 980
Dover, Kohl & Partners rendering shows replacing I-980 with a multiway boulevard, plus new housing and park space
From the Specific Plan:
“A freeway conversion of I-980 south of Grand Avenue is a transformative idea for future study that would add immeasurable value to Oakland, and reconnect West Oakland with downtown. Such a project would open new areas for mixed-income and affordable housing, as well as newly accessible employment space and much-needed public green space. The replacement boulevard could feature tree-lined, protected bicycle paths, vehicular side-access lanes with on-street parking, and the potential for a new submerged rail alignment.”