Oakland spending $12 million to improve park space near Lake Merritt

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The city of Oakland this week is embarking on a $12 million public works project intended to improve park space in the area around Snow Park, but it will cause some disruption for drivers and pedestrians before its completion in 2019.

The first phase of the Lakeside Green Street Project is launching this week, necessitating some traffic closures in the area of Lakeside Drive and Madison, Harrison, Jackson, 19th and 20th streets, according to the Oakland Public Works Department.

Crosswalks will be closed at Madison and Lakeside, along the lake pathway from Harrison to Lakeside, at Harrison and 20th, and at other alternating locations in the area of Lakeside and Grand Avenue. There will also be some road closures on Lakeside Drive in the area.

The closures will last for the first phase of the project, scheduled to be completed by 2017. But all the improvements aren't expected to be complete until mid-2019.

Once complete, the full project will include a new pedestrian promenade, new bike lanes and racks, a new children's play area, renovated bathrooms in Snow Park, a golf putting green, a new running trail along Lake Merritt and a public art project.

The project is funded mainly with $9.2 million in federal transportation funds, but also with $2.3 million in funds from Measure DD, a $198 million bond Oakland voters passed in 2002 for lake improvements, and $500,000 from Alameda County Measure BB, a sales tax for transportation improvements passed in 2014.

More information about the project is available here: http://www.waterfrontaction.org/map/dd-snow.htm