Embarcadero West Rail Safety and Access Improvements

Construction of non-capital improvements starts in 2026.

Later this year, OakDOT will be delivering safety improvements to the project area. These critical, non-capital safety improvements are being delivered ahead of larger capital project work. These improvements will include replacing faded markings, replacing missing regulatory signs, and installing new stop signs in the project area. This work is expected to be delivered in 2026.

Construction is expected to start in 2027. View the site plan here.(PDF, 6MB)

As of March 2026, these proposed improvements are prioritized for delivery in 2027-2029:

• Upgrade an overweight vehicle railroad crossing to heavyweight standards between Middle Harbor Road to Market Street to safely accommodate permitted overweight truck access to the Port. This will eliminate the current overweight vehicle reroute on 7th Street through West Oakland. This upgrade will provide an overweight route sooner than an earthquake-resistant replacement for the Adeline Street Bridge can be studied, designed, and built.
• Modernize two at-grade crossing gates on Embarcadero West at Market Street and at Oak Street, including new railroad crossing arms and equipment installed closer to the railroad tracks. Other upgrades to the at-grade crossings include high-visibility crosswalks, sidewalk improvements, pavement delineation, intersection safety lighting, and directional signage to increase safety and protect freight and passenger rail operations.
• Install a new traffic signal with rail preemption (as required by UPRR) at Embarcadero West at Oak Street, which means red stoplights for drivers will be timed to match approaching trains.
• Construct protected bike lanes on Embarcadero West between Alice Street and Oak Street and on Oak Street between Embarcadero West and 3rd Street to connect Jack London Square and the waterfront to planned protected bike lanes in Downtown Oakland.
• Install comprehensive wayfinding signage in the project area to provide walking, biking, and driving directions to transportation hubs, local landmarks, and parking facilities

OakDOT will be incorporating community feedback gathered through engagement into the project elements moving forward.

Delivery of the following project elements previously shared in 2024 are subject to ongoing coordination regarding access and operational needs along the Embarcadero West corridor, and are unlikely to be completed with current funding by 2029:

• Upgrade six at-grade crossing gates on Embarcadero West between MLK Jr Way and Webster Street, including new railroad and pedestrian crossing arms and equipment installed closer to the railroad tracks. Other improvements to the at-grade crossings could include directional signage, pavement delineation, high-visibility crosswalks, sidewalk bulb-outs, and intersection safety lighting to increase safety and protect freight and passenger rail operations.
• Implement recommendations of 2011 Quiet Zone Study to reduce the required use of train horns. To establish a quiet zone, railroad safety infrastructure must be installed. In a quiet zone, train horns may still be used in emergency situations or to comply with other Federal regulations or railroad operating rules.
• Convert the westbound lane (lane closer to downtown) of Embarcadero West to a shared street. A shared street, similar to Water Street, would be designed to reduce the number of vehicles, slow speeding, and be shared by people walking, biking, and driving. Right turns would be required at every intersection in the westbound direction to minimize incidents of vehicles on tracks when trains are approaching.
• Convert the eastbound lane (lane closer to the waterfront) to a bicycle and pedestrian space on Embarcadero West between Clay Street and Webster Street. This side of the street would be designed  to accommodate emergency vehicles and authorized service vehicles but would be closed for general purpose vehicles. Closing this road to vehicles would also eliminate left turns across the railroad tracks, which reduces the risk of vehicle-train collisions.
• Construct protected bike lanes on Clay Street between Embarcadero West and 2nd Street and on 2nd Street between Clay Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way.
• Explore opportunities for public art within available funding constraints.

The City, Port and UPRR team will restart design development with the goal to complete design of transformative safety improvements along Embarcadero West between Clay Street and Webster Street and to partner to seek additional grant funds to implement these improvements.  For more information on updates to the project scope as of March 2026, please read the Frequently Asked Questions below for more details.

Oakland's Embarcadero West is a vital transportation corridor in the Bay Area, connecting the Port of Oakland—a global gateway for the Northern California Megaregion—to the rest of the nation. Embarcadero West is a one-mile city street accommodating freight trains, passenger trains, motor vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians with no physical separation between these transportation modes. Approximately 65 trains a day use this corridor operated by Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) and Amtrak/Capitol Corridor. This rail corridor is one of the largest bottlenecks for both UPRR and Amtrak, which see frequent delays from vehicles inadvertently getting stuck on the tracks. Decades of community engagement and planning have resulted in multiple state grant awards that will fund this project through the next phases of engagement, final design, and construction.

The Spring/Summer 2024 Community Engagement Report is available here: download the report(PDF, 17MB).

In 2024, OakDOT performed community engagement to develop 35% designs of Embarcadero West:

• Sunday, June 23: Pop-Up at Jack London Square Farmer's Market
• Tuesday, June 25: Jack London Neighborhood Council Meeting
• Sunday, June 30: Pop-Up at Jack London Square Farmer's Market
• Friday, July 12: Pop-Up at Port Harbor Tour: Embarcadero West Rail Safety and Access Improvements
• *Wednesday, July 17: Community Design Workshop: Embarcadero West Rail Safety and Access (*see below)
• Saturday, July 20: Pop-Up at StaceyFest
• Saturday, July 20: Pop-Up at Pedal Brew Fest
• Saturday, August 3: Pop-Up at Jack London Brewing District Block Party: Embarcadero West Rail Safety and Access Improvements
• Tuesday, August 6: Pop-Up at Jack London National Night Out
• Tuesday, August 6: Pop-Up at West Oakland National Night Out

At the Wednesday, July 17, 2024 Community Design Workshop, OakDOT shared the Community Design Workshop Posters and the videos showing design proposals. Please note that not all elements proposed at the workshop will be incorporated into final designs.

Pedestrian Video  Bicyclist Video  Driver Video

2019 Oakland Bike Plan
This Plan proposes a Class 1 bike path on Embarcadero West between Brush Street and Clay Street. See interactive Existing and Proposed Bikeways map.

2019 Downtown Oakland Specific Plan (DOSP)
This plan proposed a rail safety project on Embarcadero West between Market Street and Oak Street that would install crossing treatments and fencing at each intersection and transform Embarcadero West into a "quiet zone" and an enhanced pedestrian corridor (which would provide a safer connection between Howard Terminal to Jack London).

Howard Terminal Transportation Plan
Building upon prior planning efforts, the public was engaged in the conceptual development of the projects in 2019 and 2020 through "on the ground" surveys that reached hundreds of Oaklanders in high priority neighborhoods adjacent to the waterfront, a series of community workshops, and stakeholder meetings as summarized here:

• In-person engagement included surveys, community meetings, and stakeholder meetings focused on West Oakland, Jack London Square, and Chinatown. Over 500 surveys were conducted in English, Spanish, and Chinese, and happened on-board buses, at transit hubs, and on high-traffic corridors for a total of over 200 hours on the ground. In addition to in-person surveys, online surveys were also advertised to Oaklanders with a specific focus on the 94607 zip code (including West Oakland, Old Oakland, Chinatown, and Jack London Square). The people who took the surveys, according to the demographic questions, were representative of the City's demographics.
• Four community meetings with about 30 attendees each were held in the neighborhoods of focus, including West Oakland, Jack London Square, Chinatown, and a maritime stakeholder-specific workshop.
• Ten key stakeholder meetings were held with leaders of each community where projects are proposed to be implemented, and with transportation advocates.
• Staff made multiple presentations to the Bicyclist and Pedestrian Advisory Commission.

Final and Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Waterfront Ballpark District
As a result of the comments received on the Draft EIR, the Embarcadero West Rail Safety and Access Improvements become a larger set of recommended improvements in the Final EIR.

This project is funded by:

• California Assembly Bill 128
• Regional Measure 3 (RM3)
• The Trade Corridor Enhancement Program (TCEP)

This project includes installing railroad safety infrastructure that could qualify the area to be designated as a quiet zone. Local governments have the authority to establish a quiet zone in their jurisdiction if they meet requirements specified by the Federal Rail Administration. Train operators must also agree to comply with a quiet zone. The project team will continue to pursue a quiet zone and coordinate with stakeholders, including Union Pacific Railroad.

The project is funded by state, regional, and potentially federal funds (the City is awaiting the outcome of an outstanding federal grant application). The majority of the project funding comes from California Assembly Bill 128, which specified the purpose of these funds—to implement improvements that facilitate enhanced freight and passenger access and to promote the efficient and safe movement of goods and people. The existing and potential future grant funds must be spent on this project and cannot be spent on other projects or purposes. The funding must also be spent on capital improvements and cannot be spent on maintenance and operations. This project is not funded by the City of Oakland’s general fund. There are other programs administered by the City of Oakland and by regional agencies, such as the Universal Basic Mobility Pilot in West Oakland, to make transit more affordable for low-income folks: https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/universal-basic-mobility

No significant traffic impact is anticipated due to the proposed project. The design was evaluated in the Howard Terminal Environmental Impact Report (EIR), which showed that significant traffic impacts were not expected, even when accounting for 3,500 new housing units and over 1 million square feet of new commercial space in the Howard Terminal Development anticipated at that time. While this initial vehicle data was collected prior to the pandemic, these findings have been supported with additional vehicle data collected in 2024.

Additionally, the project proposes strategies to help drivers navigate and access their destinations safely, including: 

• Updating directional signage and coordinating with mobile app companies to update wayfinding to direct people to destinations and parking.
• Designating loading spaces along the shared street so that vehicles can pull over to load/unload or pickup/drop off passengers without blocking traffic.

The proposed pedestrian path and bike lanes will be designed so that in an emergency, a fire truck or emergency vehicle can drive eastbound on Embarcadero West. The proposed shared street in the westbound direction is designed to accommodate the widths needed for fire trucks and emergency vehicles to turn at all intersections.

This project provides an opportunity to provide a safe and comfortable bike route between other upcoming protected bike lane projects in West Oakland, Downtown Oakland, and the Jack London District, which creates a more complete and connected bike network.

The project team is continuing to explore safe and accessible ways to define space for bicyclists and pedestrians. While vertical separation won’t be possible, different colored and textured surfaces help people with vision disabilities navigate the space. Signage and markings will communicate to bicyclists that they must yield to pedestrians and safely share the space. Share your ideas with the project team.

The project team is gathering feedback on where people would like to see artistic elements included in the project. Ongoing coordination with the City of Oakland Cultural Affairs and Public Art staff will help us understand how to best incorporate elements in terms of timing and funding.

The City of Oakland and the Port of Oakland jointly manage the Heavy Container Permit Program. Overweight trucks are required to apply for permits, and the Oakland Police Department manages the permitting process. The trucks must only travel on the city streets designated for overweight truck travel. They must also travel at lower speeds. The overweight corridor is expected to make overweight truck travel more efficient and reduce traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) coming specifically from heavy container trucks traveling in residential neighborhoods in West Oakland. Since 2021, the Adeline Bridge was deemed structurally insufficient for overweight trucks. As a result, those trucks have been using 7th Street in West Oakland to travel to/from the Port of Oakland. The overweight corridor will allow overweight trucks to access the Port entrance adjacent to the Adeline Bridge, without traveling on 7th Street. The overweight corridor is and will continue to be a private road accessible only for overweight trucks and emergency vehicles.

Afull project-wide parking evaluation is forthcoming. All passenger drop-off areas and accessible van access will be maintained. Some on-street parking is expected to be removed to provide daylighting at intersections and near driveways for traffic safety, and due to added bike facilities. The project includes a comprehensive wayfinding plan, which will include wayfinding signage to direct drivers to the many nearby public parking structures.

Currently, no driveways are proposed to be closed. The project team will continue to conduct outreach to understand loading needs along the corridor and will work with businesses to address any potential impacts. The full loading access and driveway evaluation is forthcoming. The project will accommodate loading dock access along Embarcadero West, including on the south (water) side where the pedestrian path and protected bike lanes are proposed.

The north side of Embarcadero West (in the westbound direction) will be a shared street between Webster Street and Jefferson Street (which will be similar to Water Street). It is designed for cars to drive at slower speeds and for the roadway to be shared among all modes of transportation. The street will be similar to Water Street (i.e. no sidewalk), so there is space for both passenger loading as well as cars to drive through. At each intersection between Jefferson and Webster Street, cars will have to make a right turn at the next intersection. For example, a car traveling on Embarcadero West towards Broadway will make a right turn at Broadway. The driver video visualizes the improvements: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjb1552kIoI

Sea-level rise and its effect on current and planned infrastructure projects is a larger regional consideration with multiple stakeholders. In 2014, Capital Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) published Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment.

Lowering the railroad tracks to operate below grade or underground would be a costly, much longer-term endeavor with several design challenges. Some of these challenges and considerations include the proximity to Union Pacific Railroad’s railyard and the grade of trains when switching tracks in and around the yard, the requirement that non-electric locomotives must have an open trench, sea level rise, groundwater intrusion, and the presence of potential hazardous materials and their disposal.

The project team has heard a lot of support from residents and business owners for bringing back the B Shuttle as a free transportation option between Downtown Oakland and Jack London District. Unfortunately, the B shuttle is currently suspended. Any updates about the B shuttle will be shared on the B shuttle webpage: https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/free-broadway-shuttle