In May, WETA and the City of Alameda hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the new O'Lot, a paved parking lot with 121 spaces for Alameda Main Street ferry passengers.
BC Staff Report
Published: June, 2016
In May, WETA and the City of Alameda hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the new O’Lot, a paved parking lot with 121 spaces for Alameda Main Street ferry passengers. The lot is located on Main Street, approximately one quarter mile west of the Main Street ferry terminal.
“As ferry ridership has increased on all of the SF Bay Ferry routes, terminal parking is an ongoing issue we must address with our community partners,” said Nina Rannells, executive director of WETA. “We are pleased to make these additional spaces available to Alameda Main Street passengers, and will continue to look for ways to accommodate demand for ferries, and ferry terminal parking, in the communities we serve.”
The Alameda Main Street ferry terminal has experienced a surge in ridership beginning with the first BART strike in 2013. As a result, parking typically spills on to adjacent streets and informal parking lots. WETA initiated work on an Alameda Terminals Access Study as a means to identify immediate, medium and long-term solutions to improve customer access to the Main Street and Harbor Bay terminals, starting with a series of public workshops to solicit input and ideas from Alameda residents and riders on how to improve terminal access.
WETA worked with City of Alameda staff to open the Officer’s Club parking lot (O’Lot) as an overflow lot for the Main Street terminal. WETA funded the needed improvements, and city staff led the construction. In addition to the new O’Lot, 20 bicycle lockers were installed at the Main Street terminal, funded through a grant from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
The O’Lot project included repaving and lighting along of the parking area, along with the installation of a new cross walk to improve safety for people accessing the terminal. The total project cost was $200,000 and was funded by Alameda County Measure B voter-approved transportation dollars.
San Francisco Bay Ferry is a service of the Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA). SF Bay Ferry serves the San Francisco Ferry Building and Pier 41/Fisherman’s Wharf, South San Francisco, Alameda Main Street, Harbor Bay, Oakland Jack London Square and Vallejo, along with seasonal service to AT&T Park.
