Oakland Global Newsletter – November 2014

Monthly Updates on the Oakland Global Trade & Logistics Center Project

Oakland Global News is a monthly newsletter for readers interested in staying current as the Oakland Global Trade & Logistics Center (former Oakland Army Base) project evolves.

Measure BB Prevails; Roads Improve

On November 4, voters approved Measure BB, a half-cent Alameda County sales tax, which is critical to the future of the East Bay’s transit systems and will fund transportation upgradesat the former Oakland Army Base as part of the Oakland Global project.

The measure passed with 70% of the vote, several percentage points above the two-thirds majority needed. The outcome was no sure thing. BB followed Measure B1, which in 2012 failed to obtain the necessary two-thirds by the narrowest of margins – 0.14 of a percentage point. Unlike the previous bond measure, BB did not lock in the half-cent permanently.

Tax proceeds will fund two broad categories of work over 30 years: 1) Capital projects, including everything from expanding BART to improving pedestrian corridors; and 2) Operations and maintenance investments, such as reinstating canceled bus service and maintaining streets.

Oakland Global infrastructure upgrades, including roadway and truck route improvements will receive funds. Those projects include reconstructing Maritime Street, Wake Avenue and Burma Road and renovating a grade separation at Seventh Street, so that cargo- carrying trucks and railcars will more easily flow to and from the former Army Base and the Port of Oakland.

The Alameda County Transportation Commission noted that the new transportation revenues — approximately $7.8 billion — are necessary given the county’s expected growth.

“Over the term of this plan, Alameda County’s population will grow by almost 30 percent and the senior population will double,” according to a report released in January. “This means more demand on our streets, highways and transit.”

Air Quality Stakeholders Update

On Wednesday December 3, the City of Oakland will convene a special meeting requested by the Oakland Global project’s air quality stakeholder group to explain the project’s Standard Conditions of Approval and Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program – both of which are measures to reduce environmental impacts.

The Standard Conditions of Approval and Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (SCA/MMRP) are based on an environmental review and addendum prepared for the project, pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act. They were later set forth in the binding development agreement between developers and the City of Oakland in October 2012. They can be reviewed at this link.

Many of the 600-some measures demand specific tasks that the city and developers must perform to reduce environmental impacts during the construction and operations of the project’s new facilities. Examples include construction-related air pollution controls, a greenhouse gas reduction plan and a storm water pollution plan.

The stakeholder meetings, which occur quarterly, were added to the MMRPs in a July 2013 Oakland City Council resolution that directed the city and project developer to host quarterly meetings to review project-related air quality and trucking mitigation plans.

In addition to facilitating the quarterly stakeholder meetings, the city must make future air quality and truck-related mitigation plans available to the public for a 17-day review before the plans are finalized. The plans also must be approved by the Oakland City Manager and must be presented to the City Council as an informational item.

Since October 2013, the city has convened four stakeholder meetings. The December 3 meeting is the second special meeting requested by the stakeholders. The first related to governance of the meetings.

Oakland Company Makes Mapping Easier

Oakland Global project team members have recently begun to use new electronic mapping software invented by Mapistry, an Oakland-based startup company.

Mapistry allows users to create and update live maps while in the field, distinguishing it from static electronic maps, which freeze images of an area at a given time.

The live feature means that Mapistry maps are always current and accurate when created. In its first, infrastructure phase, the Oakland global project is continually shifting materials and changing the topography of the former Oakland Army Base. Tracking those changes in real time makes the project’s work more efficient, productive and precise.

Mapistry is a subscription-based software, which can be accessed through electronic devices connected to the Internet, including tablets and phones. The company is located on Franklin Street in downtown Oakland and was started by Ryan Janoch and has wife, Allie Janoch. Ryan is a former civil engineer and backpacker and Allie is a computer scientist.

According to Mapistry’s website, the new software makes mapping more widely accessible: “We launched Mapistry because the complexity of existing geographic information system (GIS) software makes it too hard for most people to complete common mapmaking tasks needed in the civil engineering and construction industries.”