{"id":7040,"date":"2026-08-17T11:36:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T11:36:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7040"},"modified":"2026-08-17T11:36:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T11:36:33","slug":"berkeley-goes-all-in-on-bikes-with-removal-of-a-significant-number-of-parking-spaces-on-hopkins-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7040","title":{"rendered":"Berkeley goes all in on bikes with removal of a significant number of parking spaces on Hopkins Street"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Berkeley resident Max Lynn watched in disbelief last month as the City Council voted to eliminate over half of the parking spaces on Hopkins Street in favor of bike lanes. Not because he\u2019s anti-environment, but because he viewed it as environmentalism gone awry.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019ve lived here for 23 years, and I\u2019ve ridden bikes, walked, ran, driven cars up and down the street the whole time,\u201d Lynn said. \u201cI\u2019m not sure why they need to be so radical. It\u2019s almost militant.\u201d<\/p>\n

On July 28, the City Council voted 7-2 in favor of a $20 million plan to eliminate an estimated 145 of 274 parking spaces on Hopkins Street on a 1.2-mile stretch between Gilman Street and Sutter Street.<\/p>\n

The plan calls for Class II bike lanes from Sutter Street to The Alameda, and Class IV protected bike lanes on both sides of Hopkins Street between The Alameda and Peralta Avenue. The plan also calls for bulb-outs and raised crosswalks at high-traffic intersections.<\/p>\n

\u201cAction is necessary and overdue,\u201d said Berkeley Councilmember Rashi Kesarwani. \u201cHopkins Street has been recommended as a low-stress, East-West connector route in the Berkeley bike plan and it is a documented high-injury corridor.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hopkins corridor has seen its share of serious incidents.<\/p>\n

Between 2011 and 2026, the city recorded 46 pedestrian and bicyclist crashes along the corridor that resulted in \u201c3 fatalities, 5 suspected serious injuries, 20 suspected minor injuries, 13 possible injuries and 5 unspecified injuries,\u201d according to a 2026 city report. The median age of the eight victims in fatal or severe cases was 67.5 years old.<\/p>\n

But for as bustling a corridor as Hopkins Street is, Lynn questioned if the number of serious accidents shouldn\u2019t be considered comparatively low, with eight serious accidents in the past 15 years.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI do think that part of the reason for the number of bikes that come down is because it\u2019s a good road to bike down,\u201d Lynn said. \u201cIt\u2019s visible. It\u2019s a wide street. And so you can go fast, and you can see what\u2019s in front of you. And also when you\u2019re driving, it\u2019s actually easier to see bikers on this street than almost every other street in the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

In opposition to the city\u2019s plans, some residents have organized \u201cSave Hopkins,\u201d an advocacy group which has raised concerns about the spillover effects on nearby neighborhoods and first responder access.<\/p>\n

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Berkeley Fire Chief Dave Sprague raised safety concerns in 2023 about clearance space for fire engines and evacuation bottlenecks in the case of a fire, which caused the plan to be shelved. But in July, Sprague revised his decision and approved concept designs that provided a \u201cworkable\u201d framework subject to ongoing review.<\/p>\n

Many disabled and elderly Berkeley residents at the City Council meeting in July said the elimination of parking would make their lives more inconvenient, instead of more safe. Nearly all of them complained of teenagers on speedy electric bikes.<\/p>\n

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Others balked at the cost of the $20 million project \u2013 $5-6 million for bike lanes alone \u2013 as the city faces a $30 million structural budget deficit and is also seeking a $300 million bond measure for general infrastructure on the November ballot.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I specifically support is infrastructure that enhances safety for bicyclists, pedestrians and motorists, and accessibility for all,\u201d said Margaret Torn, a Berkeley resident. \u201cAnd really, I\u2019m looking for tight stewardship of the city\u2019s budget and taxpayers dollars, especially before the city asks for more bond measures and sales tax increases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kesarwani was firm in her commitment to the Hopkins Street plan.<\/p>\n

She said funding for the project did not impact the general fund, for which the city is seeking sales tax and bond measure. The councilmember acknowledged the overhaul of Hopkins Street was a monumental decision, one that would reshape transportation on one of the major thoroughfares connecting East and West Berkeley.<\/p>\n

Though many residents voiced opposition, the council had evidence that their decision was the right one, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have said and I believe that the reallocation of the public right-of-way is without precedent in our city, and when a big change like this is made I believe it should be justified by the data that we have in terms of where the serious and fatal crashes are occurring,\u201d Kesarwani said.<\/p>\n

Read more Horoscopes August 17, 2026: Robert De Niro, set yourself up for success<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Between 2011 and 2026, the city recorded 46 pedestrian and bicyclist crashes along the Hopkins Street corridor that resulted in three fatalities, according to a 2026 city report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nBerkeley goes all in on bikes with removal of a significant number of parking spaces on Hopkins Street - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7040\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Berkeley goes all in on bikes with removal of a significant number of parking spaces on Hopkins Street - 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