Tue, Nov 18, 2025·Oakland, California·City Council

Oakland Public Works & Transportation Committee Meeting (Nov 18, 2025)

Discussion Breakdown

Transportation Safety49%
Contracting And Procurement16%
Procedural10%
Engineering And Infrastructure8%
Active Transportation5%
Parks and Recreation4%
Personnel Matters4%
Fiscal Sustainability2%
Technology and Innovation2%

Summary

Oakland Public Works & Transportation Committee Meeting (Nov 18, 2025)

The committee convened at 11:30 a.m., approved its standing committee schedule, and advanced three major Public Works/Transportation items to the Dec. 2, 2025 City Council agenda (mostly on consent). Discussion focused on delivering safety improvements around Lake Merritt, maintaining an aging city fleet amid funding and staffing constraints, and updating/standardizing speed limits with limited enforcement capacity.

Consent Calendar

  • Standing committee item scheduling: Approved as presented.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Kevin Daly (BPAC Policy & Legislative Co-Chair) (Item 2): Requested that Fire Code Chapter 5, Section 503 and Appendix D be brought to this committee if the Fire Marshal adds them to the state fire code, noting end-of-year timing.
  • Kevin Daly (Transport Oakland) (Item 3): Expressed support for the Lakeside/Lake Merritt safety project and optimism about forthcoming bond sales.
  • David Boltwright (District 4 resident) (Item 3): Asked when the bond offering would occur.
  • Kevin Daly (Transport Oakland) (Item 4): Urged the City to purchase emergency vehicles that fit the streets the City has/wants (narrower streets for safety), rather than designing streets around oversized vehicles.
  • Kevin Daly (BPAC Policy & Legislative Co-Chair) (Item 5): Highlighted OakDOT’s newly released speed-limit map (noting it may not be fully accurate yet), flagged a possible International Blvd 30 mph discrepancy, and emphasized support for traffic calming alongside speed-limit changes.

Discussion Items

  • AB 2449 teleconference participation: The committee approved Councilmember Houston’s emergency teleconference participation and noted the requirement that his camera remain on.

  • Lakeside Drive/Lake Merritt Blvd Complete Streets construction contract (Gallagher & Burke Inc.)

    • Staff described pedestrian, bicycle, transit, and vehicle safety improvements on Lakeside Dr (13th–19th), Lake Merritt Blvd/1st Ave area, and 17th St, plus an alternate for pedestrian lighting improvements on E. 12th and portions of International Blvd.
    • Funding note (staff): A major portion is Measure U, and staff stated the City is proceeding in anticipation of the bond sale.
    • Councilmember Gallo: Expressed concern about the condition/maintenance of the inner Lake Merritt walking trail, characterizing it as an embarrassment compared to the lake’s “jewel of Oakland” status, and asked staff to look at including maintenance needs.
    • Councilmember Wong: Questioned why the low bid was 18% higher than the engineer’s estimate; staff attributed this to volatile commodities pricing (e.g., cement, liquid asphalt, aluminum). Wong also requested clearer reporting (e.g., approximate mileage covered) and asked why his math suggested $8.65M rather than $8.81M; staff deferred to Workforce Employment Standards for bid calculations.
    • Councilmember Houston: Declined to vote verbally, stating discomfort due to “situations that’s happened,” and was recorded as an abstention.
  • Cooperative purchase agreements exceeding $250,000 (OPW Equipment Services; increase/extend; not to exceed $6.31M)

    • Staff explained cooperative agreements as “piggybacking” on other agencies’ contracts (e.g., state or cooperative purchasing agencies) to save time/resources and obtain comparable pricing.
    • Councilmember Gallo: Requested a clearer fleet plan for replacing/modernizing vehicles (including electrification) and raised mechanic staffing needs.
    • Joseph Williams (Equipment Services Manager): Reported a 10-year fleet replacement plan and special plans for police/fire, but stated the City has not secured replacement funding, aside from about $5M to OPD in the last three years; the fleet continues to age.
    • Richard Battersby (Assistant Director, OPW Bureau of Maintenance & Internal Services): Said he understood there is $5M allocated this year and next not yet designated by department; provided ballpark comparisons (e.g., about 35 fully equipped police vehicles or about two fire apparatuses for $5M; a battery electric street sweeper ~ $900,000). He also noted fleet replacement decentralization in July 2023 reduced centralized coordination.
    • Staff: Reported roughly 10 vacant positions (about 30% vacant on heavy equipment per the discussion) contributing to outsourcing and the need to extend vendor networks.
    • Councilmember Wong: Asked about major vendors (Golden State Emergency Vehicle Service, Peterson Trucks, Ford Store San Leandro); staff said these provide parts/services (Golden State focused on fire apparatus parts; Peterson heavy equipment repairs; Ford Store local repairs/maintenance/parts) and noted parts increases of about 25–30%. Wong also requested stronger accountability/performance measures in reports.
  • Ordinance updating OMC speed limits (Broadway and International Blvd; administrative corrections)

    • Staff (Craig Raphael, OakDOT): Presented administrative code cleanups and corridor changes, including Broadway reduced to 20 mph on a segment between 27th St and Piedmont Ave, and International Blvd standardized to 25 mph within Oakland jurisdiction based on surveys.
    • Councilmember Gallo and Councilmember Wong: Both pressed on enforcement, noting limited OPD resources; Wong asked what happened to prior red-light cameras and sought implementation updates.
    • OakDOT (Megan Weir, Assistant Director): Described the Safe Oakland Streets interagency initiative; emphasized pairing appropriate speed limits with tools like speed safety cameras (Oakland is one of six pilot cities) and focusing limited enforcement on the High Injury Network.
    • Staff: Said the former red-light camera program had issues (including required police review per violation and high fines), and cited new enabling legislation (SB 720) allowing lower fines and implementation outside the police department; anticipated a report sometime next year, with implementation likely after next calendar year due to procurement/outreach needs.
    • Councilmember Houston and Kevin Daly: Flagged a discrepancy showing 30 mph on parts of International on a map/report; staff clarified the ordinance’s intent is to change segments currently at 30 to 25.
    • OakDOT also mentioned interest in vehicle-based technology such as speed governors for repeat extreme speeders as an additional policy tool.

Key Outcomes

  • Approved determination of standing committee schedule. Vote: 3-0 (Guillén, Wong, Unger), Houston absent.
  • Approved AB 2449 emergency teleconference participation for Councilmember Houston. Vote: 3-0 (Guillén, Wong, Unger).
  • Forwarded to City Council (Dec. 2, 2025) — Non-consent: Resolution awarding construction contract to Gallagher & Burke Inc. for Lakeside Dr/Lake Merritt Blvd Complete Streets, $8,810,715 and CEQA findings. Vote: 3-0-1 (Aye: Guillén, Wong, Unger; Abstain: Houston).
  • Forwarded to City Council (Dec. 2, 2025) — Consent: Resolution approving/expanding cooperative purchase agreements for OPW Equipment Services, additional amount not to exceed $6,310,000, and CEQA findings. Vote: 4-0.
  • Forwarded to City Council (Dec. 2, 2025) — Consent: Ordinance amending OMC Chapter 10.20 (speed limits) including Broadway 20 mph segment and International Blvd standardized to 25 mph, plus administrative corrections and CEQA findings. Vote: 4-0.
  • Adjourned after open forum (no comments delivered).

Meeting Transcript

Good morning and welcome to the Public Works and Transportation Committee meeting of Tuesday, November 18th. The time is now eleven thirty a.m. and this meeting may come to order. Before taking roll, I will provide instructions on how to submit speaker cards for items on this agenda. If you're here with us in chamber and would like to submit a speaker card, please fill one out and turn one in to myself or a clerk representative no later than ten minutes after the start of this meeting or before the item is read into record. Registering to speak via Zoom is now due 24 hours prior to the start of this meeting time. This meeting came to order at eleven thirty AM, and speaker cards will no longer be accepted ten minutes after, making that time eleven forty a.m. We'll now proceed with taking roll. Councilmember Guillaume. Present. Thank you. Council Member Houston. Absent for now. Absent for now. Councilmember Wong. At present. Thank you. And Chair Unger. Present. Uh please let us know if Councilmember Houston shows up. We need to do a vote to make it appropriate. Okay, thank you. Noting three members present and one absent Houston. And before we begin, Chair, do you have any announcements at this time? No, I don't know. Nothing. No announcements, nice to see everyone. All right, starting off with item number one. There are no minutes to be approved. Item number two, determination of schedule about standing committee items, and we do have one speaker that's signed up. All right, let's hear from our speaker, please. Calling in the names that signed up for item number two, Kevin Dowley. One to formally, sorry, Kevin Daly from uh co-chair of the policy and legislative committee of the bicyclist and pedestrian advisory commission. I want to formally suggest to this committee that I'd like to see two parts of the fire code come to the public works and transportation committee, and that's section five oh three of chapter five, as well as appendix D. If the fire marshal chooses to add those two to the state fire code. And I know the fire marshal wants this done by the end of the year, so we're coming up on timelines. We'll be talking about it at the BPAC Thursday, by the way. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. That concludes our speakers on this item. So moved. I think we got a motion from Councilmember Gaio and a second from Council Member Wong. Thank you. Sorry, I still have line. Thank you. That was a motion made by Councilmember Guillo. Seconded by Council Member Wong to approve the. Oh, sorry, to accept the determination of schedule of the outstanding committee items as is on roll. Councilmember Gu? Aye.