Final Parking Notice

A detail from published Richmond Street plans

City Engineer Yvetteh Ortiz issued a final notice on Aug. 11 that it is “feasible and justified” to remove 177-street parking spaces for the Richmond Street Complete Streets project. This includes elimination of 156 of 248 on-street parking spaces – or 63% of parking -- north of Moeser Lane, a city memo said.

South of Moeser Lane, the city plans to remove 21 parking spaces – or 10% of street parking --- to add traffic calming devices and traffic safety improvements. There won’t be a bike lane between Fairmount Avenue and Moeser so much less parking will be removed.

Four Parking Spaces Restored

The one change in the total number of lost parking spaces was the restoration of four parking spaces in the first block of Richmond Street north of Moeser, a block that had lost 80% of street parking in plans published online in June 2025.

City Offers Free Driveway Work

Some positive news for Richmond Street residents was a city offer to improve driveway aprons at no charge where feasible to make it easier for residents to use their driveways.

Driveway aprons are the part of the driveway between the sidewalk and the curb, and many Richmond Street residents have said they have narrow driveways that make it hard to park.

For residents who have street parking that will be removed in front of their homes so they will be backing into bike lanes, the city will improve the driveway aprons to create better driveway access if it's feasible.

A bumpy driveway apron (right) and its rough connection to the street

Controversial Bike Lanes

Plans for the segment north of Moeser Lane have been controversial since late 2024 when the city proposed to remove about half the parking there to add curving chicane bike lanes along with pedestrian safety improvements, traffic calming features, and street trees.

Pedestrian safety improvements were requested by residents and there was little or no opposition to planned improvements other than removing parking to create bike lanes.

At a June 25 Open House, people filled the City Council chambers and lobby to hear about the project, speak, and ask questions. Plans released in June 2025 showed that instead of removing about half the parking, the city planned to remove nearly two-thirds of it. Now the city has said its final number is 63 percent.

Final Notice Sets Appeal Deadline

Issuance of the final notice triggered a timeline for any appeals to the city manager. Any appeals must be received by 4 p.m. on Aug. 25, 2025. There is no fee for this level of appeal. Details on what is required are included in the final notice of parking removal which was mailed to property owners living within 300 feet of the project area. The notice can also be viewed here.

A memo of findings explaining the city’s parking decision is also posted here.

A recent photo of Richmond Street

Will Parking Be Adequate?

The city memo states that data on parking and households show that after removal of the 177 spaces there will generally be “adequate neighborhood parking supply, including private off-street and on-street spaces." However, drivers traveling to Richmond Street north of Moeser Lane "may have to park one or two blocks from their destinations on Richmond Street or nearby cross and parallel streets.”

Several members of Richmond Street Neighbors, a group formed by residents who oppose the project, said the city’s claim that data shows there will be adequate parking in the neighborhood is flawed and data collection was designed to support adding bike lanes.

A parking occupancy study done in October 2024 showed that about half the street parking was used at peak times, which were 8 p.m. or later. The city’s subsequent parking study expanded the parking occupancy study area to include two parallel streets, Elm and Everett, along with side streets. The purpose, residents said, was to create a finding that the planned redesign will not create a parking shortage.

“People who live on Richmond Street should not have to park on Liberty Street,” said one resident, who asked that her name not be used.

The resident added that the city did not conduct any surveys at 8 p.m. or later, the time when streets fill up. In the previous fall 2024 survey, consultant CSWST2 did look at parking at 8 p.m.

Effects on Disabled and Mobility-Impaired People

Another concern voiced by Richmond Street residents is that disabled and mobility-impaired people will lose access to their street, and therefore the ability to travel to nearby locations like grocery stores and medical offices that they cannot reach via transit.

The city engineer’s memo states that these concerns have been addressed in three ways: (1) by offering to reconfigure driveway aprons when feasible, (2) by adding eight accessible parking spaces in the neighborhood on cross streets, and (3) by continuing to allow residents to request blue curb parking in front of their homes.

At City Council meetings before the City Council endorsed the project on July 15, several residents said expecting disabled people to walk down the block and around the corner to reach an ADA space was unacceptable.

The final parking removal notice does not approve the Richmond Street Complete Streets project and will not take effect unless the project is separately approved by the city.

Therefore, no action under CEQA (the California Environmental Quality Act) is required at this time, the memo said.

An environmental review will be required before the project can be approved.

Addressing Significant Changes

A spokesman for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), which awarded an $8 million for the project, emailed that review under NEPA (the National Environmental Policy Act) is required.

The project that is moving forward differs from the project described in the grant application and “significant changes or deviations from the original plan will be identified and assessed,” the spokesman said.

Chicane bike lanes are now a distinguishing feature of the project.

Bike lanes were not mentioned in the successful grant application for the $8 million from the Safe Streets for All program. That application stated that the project would “enhance the existing shared-lane bike facility (which complements the low-stress Ohlone Greenway just one to three blocks west).”

A design including chicane bike lanes was first introduced to the public at a Nov. 21, 2024 community workshop.

A Reimbursable Grant

The grant, which was obtained by the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) for Richmond Street and four other projects, is a “reimbursable” grant. That means work must be done before funds are released.

The FHWA spokesman said that after environmental review is complete, the agency will make a determination on whether the cost of planned work is eligible for reimbursement. That will probably happen this fall, he said.

Environmental Review Plan

The spokesman added that the environmental review is done at the state, not federal, level, because California has been given authority to take on that responsibility.

Exactly what public meetings might be held and who will give final approval to the Richmond Street project’s environmental documentation was not clear.

The city engineer’s Aug. 11 memo says that an existing cooperative agreement between the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (the Authority) and the City of El Cerrito specifies that the two agencies will cooperate to complete environmental review.

“The Authority will prepare environmental analyses and coordinate with the City for its approval,” the memo said.

Andrew Dillard, a CCTA senior engineer who has been the liaison between the city and the Authority, did not return emails or phone calls about the environmental review process for Richmond Street.

People with questions about the project are asked to contact Public Works Engineering at pworks@elcerrito.gov or (510) 215-4382.