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Mills College and the City of Oakland Seek Transportation Solution
Oakland, CA–March 23, 2010. What started out as a Mills College senior thesis may soon become a transportation solution for the labyrinth of sidewalks, paths, and crosswalks that weave around Mills College and its surrounding neighbors. To improve transit around the College, Mills is hosting a series of four public meetings facilitated by the city of Oakland to gather input about pedestrian and bicycle traffic along MacArthur Boulevard between Seminary Avenue and High Street. The public is invited to attend the first meeting in the Gathering Hall at the Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business at Mills College on Thursday, March 25, from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. The project, called LAMMPS (Laurel Access to Mills, Maxwell Park, and Seminary Avenue), will develop plans that will make travel along this corridor easier, safer, and more inviting. When the I-580 MacArthur Freeway was built, it created a physical barrier that split Mills and the Maxwell Park residential neighborhood with the Laurel business and residential neighborhoods. Pedestrians and bicyclists must navigate a circuitous and dangerous route under the I-580 overpass to travel between the areas. Questions and topics to be addressed at the meetings may include: • Better pedestrian and bike access to the Laurel Business District and surrounding neighborhoods • Improvements to the traffic flow under the I-580 overpass • Improved bus stop and public transit access outside of the Mills College front gate • Ideas for creating stronger community ties This project developed from Mills’ graduate Alysha Nachtigall’s thesis, which received a $257,000 transportation grant from Caltrans, the state’s transportation agency, to find solutions to the problems caused by the freeway next to the College. Nachigall, who received her BA and MA in public policy at Mills College in 2007 and 2008 respectively, surveyed more than 500 residents in the surrounding neighborhoods of Maxwell Park and the Laurel. Her research pointed to several suggestions, including a bike lane that would improve and increase pedestrian and bicycle access from Maxwell Park and Mills to the Laurel around the freeway. She also proposed landscaping and beautification around the overpass. More information about the LAMMPS project is available from Iris Starr, city of Oakland senior transportation planner at 510.238.6229 or istarr@oaklandnet.com. About Mills College Nestled in the foothills of Oakland, California, Mills College is a nationally renowned, independent liberal arts college offering a dynamic progressive education that fosters leadership, social responsibility, and creativity to approximately 950 undergraduate women and 550 graduate women and men. Since 2000, applications to Mills College have more than doubled. The College is named one of the top colleges in the West by U.S. News & World Report, and ranks as one of the Best 371 Colleges by The Princeton Review. Forbes.com ranked Mills 55th among America's best colleges and named it a "Top Ten: Best of the All-Women's Colleges." Visit us at www.mills.edu. PRESS CONTACT: |
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