Richmond Street Next Steps
- Livable El Cerrito
- Jun 24
- 7 min read
Updated: Jul 13
This story was updated late Tuesday to incorporate email comments from Associate Engineer James Mizutani.
Open House Will Be Tomorrow
People with questions about the Richmond Street redesign can view the latest plans starting at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 25, at an Open House in the City Council chambers.
A brief presentation is scheduled for 6:15 p.m., according to a city press release. The Open House will last from 6 to 8 p.m. A short Q & A session will be held after the presentation. After that, the focus will shift to one-on-one discussions, according to Associate Engineer James Mizutani.
Written comments on the plans must be submitted by July 9.
New Plan Cuts 63% of Parking
Based on Livable El Cerrito’s count of parking spaces shown in the city’s recently posted maps, the new design would remove 143 parking spaces (63%) and keep just 83 parking spaces (37%) in the eight-block section.
A request to provide the Public Works Department's count of the number of parking spaces to be removed was declined by Mizutani. In a June 24 email, Mizutani wrote: "Information on how parking will be impacted can be found in the plans on the project website and available at the first-floor counter in city hall. Remaining and repurposed parking stalls are marked on each block."
The city has a plan to use an $8 million federal grant along with about $3 million in other funding to add traffic-calming measures and improve intersection safety on Richmond Street from Fairmount Avenue to Hill Street. The street will also be repaved.
For the eight blocks of Richmond Street north of Moeser Lane, the city late last year announced plans to remove about 50% of street parking in order to add curving chicane bike lanes along both sides of the street.
No bike lanes are proposed south of Moeser.
Opposition to Previously Stated Parking Loss of 50%
A majority of Richmond Street residents north of Moeser have actively opposed the project since Jan. 17, 2025, when they submitted a petition signed by 140 residents asking the City Council to reconsider the plan.
Residents agree that traffic needs to be slowed and intersections made safer for pedestrians. The controversy has been over whether removing half the parking and installing chicane bike lanes is the best solution.
Newly posted plans that remove more than 60% of parking and up to 80% in some blocks sparked a range of reactions – from anger and concern to a request that the city study nearby side streets to identify available parking.
The changes spurred a number of residents to voice their concerns during public comment at the June 17 City Council meeting.
“The Worst Possible Disrespect”
Inge Brust, who opposes the project and created the Richmond Street for All website, said the updated plans showed her that city staff and officials ignored all the concerns her group raised about equity, safety, environmental impact, property values, financial responsibility, and research integrity.
In one block, plans call for removing 22 parking spaces and keeping five.
“The new design increased the removal of parking spaces from 50% to 80% on some blocks,” she said. “And that shows the worst possible disrespect for the people you claim to represent.”
The amount of parking to be removed varies significantly from block to block, but there is only one block where the reduction in parking would be around 50%. All the other blocks would lose more than that.
(See our previous post, 63% of Parking Cut, for a block-by-block count.)
Mizutani emailed that there is a significantly greater loss of parking in the latest plans because, "The project design has progressed, allowing us to determine the number of repurposed on-street parking spaces, a refinement from the approximately 50% shared during previous workshops."
ADA Parking
Mobility for elderly and disabled people was a concern voiced over the last six months.
Mizutani wrote June 24 that the new plans include eight potential ADA parking spaces on side streets around the corner from Richmond Street "to retain more general use parking spaces along Richmond Street."
Three speakers at the City Council meeting, including Elaine Fielding, said the plan shows a lack of empathy.
“City Hall tells us that able-bodied cyclists should not be asked to cycle two extra blocks to access the safety of the Ohlone Greenway but they callously have no problem requiring frail residents to walk extra blocks when two-thirds of parking spaces are eliminated,” Fielding said.
Parking on Side Streets
Steven Price, who as co-founder of El Cerrito/Richmond Walk and Roll advocates for the Richmond Street project with a bike lane, said the city should do more study on the amount of parking available on side streets.
“There’s a lot of curb space not being used on the blocks adjacent to Richmond Street,” Price said. “To park cars there requires only a short walk.”
Price added: “We should be encouraging El Cerritans to use vehicles that are no larger than their travel needs require, preferably fit in driveways, and don’t expand curb space demands.”
The design was also endorsed by three bicyclists who live in El Cerrito: Henry Pinkard, Stuart Sonatina, and Gaia Sonatina. Pinkard said research shows that bike lanes make streets safer for everyone, not just cyclists.
Gaia Sonatina said she bikes with children and the Ohlone Greenway is a wonderful way to get to some places, but not all. Stuart Sonatina said he is very excited about the planned redesign, although he would have liked to see a bike lane extend the full length of Richmond Street.
City’s Process Criticized
Several speakers said that the Richmond Street project raised broader issues about the way the city has handled the process.
El Cerrito resident Meredith McGuire said she does not live on Richmond Street and did not really care about the redesign project “until I saw how much opposition there was and how indifferent the City Council has been to that opposition.”
“I have heard that this grant has been accepted and so it has to go forward now,” McGuire said. “Which suggests to me that everyone here is basically wasting their time trying to get you all to change your minds. You’re not going to because you’re taking the money.”
McGuire said grant money should not be more important than what residents want.
“It also makes me concerned that we don’t know what grants you’re applying for right now,” McGuire added. “That’s not visible to us, so we don’t know what the next set of terms and conditions is going to be. That’s apparently going to shape El Cerrito instead of the will of the voters.”
Brust said cyclists are a special interest group consisting of people who mostly don’t live in the city. Yet their support seems to be more important than the needs of residents.
“Passing the Buck”
Elaine Fielding said the city’s approach to the project raises concerns about the city’s attitudes toward its residents.
“The city manager claims disingenuously that she is just implementing city policies,” Fielding said. “Councilors wash their hands of a vote like it’s past history and none of their responsibility. Passing the buck is alive and well at City Hall and the Democrats we have elected have failed us regarding this project.”
High Speeds and Crumbling Pavement
Allison Rutland was the one Richmond Street resident who spoke in favor of the project on June 17.
Rutland said Richmond Street is used as an alternative to San Pablo Avenue and cars can reach speeds much higher than they can on San Pablo, especially at night.
She said a pedestrian sign near her house is battered from being run over, pavement is crumbling, and there are hardly any street trees.
“The street needs to be safer to accommodate those who bike and walk…I also want it to be beautiful and welcoming. I’m certain that the chicanes, raised intersections, and street trees will greatly improve the appearance of our street,” Rutland said.
Richmond Street was skipped when most streets in El Cerrito were rebuilt following the 2008 passage of Measure A, a half-cent sales tax for street repairs and maintenance, City Manager Karen Pinkos said in April. Repairs and repaving were on hold for years in anticipation of the water district’s plan to dig up the street and replace the Wildcat Pipeline, which was finally completed this year.
Diane Sanford called Richmond Street “a disaster” because of speeding traffic.
Current Plan Not the Answer
“Traffic should be slowed down,” she said. “But the bike lane that takes away all these parking spots is just really hard on all the residents that live in that area. There are a lot of older people and some have other generations living with them. They have extra cars. They just do…These houses were not meant for this kind of life and the cutback on parking on Richmond Street affects not just Richmond Street but all around,” Sanford said.
Unanswered Questions
Cathy Nuzman and her husband, Clifford, said parking was removed from both sides of the street near her house.
“If we go on the side streets to park, where are those neighbors going to park? Where do I put my garbage cans? Where will delivery trucks sit?” they asked.
Linda Cain said she has many questions that should be answered.
Her questions include: What would be the effect on people who are living on this street when over half the parking is removed? How are you going to realistically accommodate elderly and disabled residents who live on Richmond Street? How are you responding to the different sides of this issue? What are the other old plans behind this that we don’t know about? What is the reality of this federal funding? Will we really get it?”
What’s Next?
Written comments on the plans must be submitted by July 9.
E-mail: pworks@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us
Postal mail: Public Works Engineering, City of El Cerrito, 10890 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito, CA 94530
City Engineer Yvetteh Ortiz is expected to make her final decision on the plan in July.
There is a process for appealing the decision.
A City Council discussion of transportation policy has been scheduled for July 15.
At the Council Chambers Open House on June 25th the City Manager stated that only City Council could change the Richmond Street Plan. Perhaps we could email and phone our council members prior to the July 15th Council Meeting, advising them of our desires as voting citizens of El Cerrito. Does anyone have a list of their names, emails and phone numbers?