Bike Lane Update

is continuing to work with residents, cyclists, and local agencies on the best fix for the problematic bike lanes along Telegraph. The latest proposal boils down to two choices: Keeping the current protected bike lanes or changing the configuration to a buffered bike lane.

Based on what we've seen and heard, KONO's position is that buffered bike lanes are better for the reasons listed below. We'd also like to hear from you.
We've developed a survey with Bike East Bay to capture feedback on the lanes and their impact on the neighborhood. Click here to take it.
We have a petition asking OakDOT to replace the current lanes with Buffered Bike Lanes. Click here to sign.
Oakland's Department of Transportation has also launched a survey asking people which arrangement they prefer. Click here to take it. 

Safety & Visibility
The row of parked cars means that drivers turning off of Telegraph can’t always see bike lane traffic. This summer a cyclist in the lanes was struck and injured by a turning car, and just last month a cyclist was injured when he swerved to avoid a pedestrian who walked into the bike lane, and hit a raised bus platform. Also, cars regularly drive and park in the bike lanes and delivery trucks have to park in the left turn lane, increasing the hazard for cyclists, drivers and pedestrians. 
Impact on Local Businesses
KONO is home to many small, minority-owned businesses. The original lane installation meant the loss of 30 street parking spaces. After rising steadily for several years, sales tax revenues from local businesses have dropped twenty-two percent from 2016 (when they were installed) to 2019. The lanes have also complicated trash pickup and street cleaning, since trucks cannot reach the curb.
Oakland First Fridays
This summer OakDOT installed plastic bollards along the bike lanes. The next phase would involve installing curbs, which would cut the street width available for First  Fridays by more than a third, increasing crowd density and not allowing required space for emergency vehicles. Even with the current bollards there is no guarantee the festival could resume when pandemic restrictions are lifted. This monthly festival is a major economic driver for Oakland, and one of our cultural jewels. Its loss would be a huge blow.
No Bollard Maintence Plan
In the five months since they were installed, many bollards are already smashed and dirty from being run over. At one intersection north of KONO someone placed beer kegs between them, increasing the hazard. Many bollards have been destroyed and discarded, leaving an unsightly, unsafe and confusing design for drivers.
 
To date, no comprehensive data has been presented to show that protected lanes are safer, especially along a high-traffic street like Telegraph where most cross-streets are staggered. There has also been no racial equity study on the impacts on our community. 
While the protected lanes have supporters, we‘ve heard from dozens of cycles who find the lanes unsafe, and avoid Telegraph for that reason. Our petition to replace them with buffered lanes has received over 1,000 signatures.

KONO supports a bike-friendly Oakland. But this project was implemented with inadequate planning and scant attempt to assess its safety and effectiveness, and the voices of the businesses and residents of KONO have been completely ignored. this project needs to be subjected to a thorough review of safety and community impact before any further changes are made.

Help us choose the new kono banners!

We’re updating the KONO banners and want to hear from you! Click here take our short survey…

KONO staff are working from home during the shelter-in-place order. If you have any questions or concerns please contact us. The Oakland First Fridays community festival has been suspended indefinitely.
StreetPlus ambassadors are still on the job sanitizing and cleaning, engaging with the homeless community and reporting suspicious activity to the police.The OPD Captain responsible for our district, Chris Bolton, tells us he has more officers available for response, patrol, and calls and have continued to prioritize patrols and security checks during peak hours. You can email him directly at CBolton@oaklandca.gov with any questions.

YOU’LL FIND WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR IN KONO!

The KONO District is a unique and interesting neighborhood in a town full of interesting neighborhoods. It is center to businesses serving the Korean-American, Somalian and Eritrean communities (among others). Here you’ll find small mom-and-pop shops, old-school and cutting edge restaurants and bars, an array of galleries and more. We’re home to the Sutter Health Alta Bates-Summit Medical Center and more housing and businesses are on the way!

We’ve recently updated the KONO Business Directory on our website. You’ll find what you’re looking for in KONO! Please contact us for any changes or additions.

Click to view
 KONO 2017 Management District Plan and
Engineers Report

STREET AMBASSADORS

KONO contracts with StreetPlus to provide a team of street ambassadors in the district . They work to keep the corridor clean of trash and graffiti, and engage with passersby to ensure a safe district. During the current pandemic, StreetPlus ambassadors are wearing safety gear and focusing on cleaning and disinfecting surfaces, engaging with the homeless community and keeping eye on the neighborhood.

PROJECTS

Oakland First Fridays is Oakland's monthly celebration of arts, culture, food and community. It happens on the first Friday of the month on Telegraph Avenue from West Grand to 27th Street. It draws up to 30,000 people from Oakland and the surrounding area to celebrate our community. Over the years it has served as an incubator for many Oakland artists and small businesses, a driver of economic growth in KONO and the rest of downtown, as documented in this report on its economic impact, and a major factor in Oakland’s resurgence as an arts destination (evidenced by the fact that Oakland is the only North American destination in National Geographic’s Places to Visit 2019 cited for its culture.

Oakland First Fridays is currently suspended until large social gatherings are again permitted. It will return.

Visit the Oakland First Fridays website

litter receptacle mosaics

KONO received a grant from the Flieshhacker Foundation to place mosaic art on the litter containers in the district. Mosaics on the trash cans are a great way to beautify the district and the project has been a success in local areas such as Temescal, Montclair, and Old Oakland. Artist, Juan Lopez, has completed 5 litter containers. This local artist has been working with tile for 25 years and is invested in community transformation especially with his work on trashcans. He often creates the mosaics with a nature scene and wildlife which is refreshing in a concrete, urban environment and symbolizes an evolving neighborhood. As he says, “I’m turning a trashcan, which is normally an eyesore into something beautiful for everyone…I’m transforming trash into treasure.” Beautifying the trashcans elevates the artistic presence of the neighborhood and fosters pride in the district. They are representative of KONO’s renaissance and emergence of the arts, culture and environmental consciousness. KONO recently received a $5,000 grant from  Flieshhacker Foundation to create more mosaic cans in the neighborhood. Contact us if you would like to sponsor a mosaic art can (510) 343-5439.

Utility Box Art Project

See interviews with the artists and work in progress, in this video produced by Laney College Digital Media Club. Go on a self-guided tour of the Art Boxes with our neighborhood map. A big thanks to all the artists: Fulani Carter, Eddie Colla, Jack Eastgate, Stevan Guiterrez, Lisa Hoffman, Dave Young Kim & Stephanie Leung, Joanne Ludwig, Pancho Peskador, David Polka,Lynne-Rachel Altman, Momoko Sudo, Ashia Tymous, and Desi Wome. KONO has recently invited some of the artists back to refresh the art.

New Trees

Art Murmur