Berkeley Wins Needed $750,000 Grant For Adeline Corridor and Ashby BART Areas

The City of Berkeley’s goal of revitalizing a section of South Berkeley took a major step toward realization today, May 28, with approval of a critically needed $750,000 planning grant for the effort. 

The funding – awarded by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) at its monthly meeting in Oakland – launches a comprehensive planning effort that will include extensive community input focused on the “Adeline Corridor” area along Adeline Street and the Ashby BART Station. 

“The City Council intends to designate South Berkeley, especially the Adeline Corridor, as our top priority for planning and growth in the coming year,” said Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, who represents Alameda County Mayors on the MTC.

“This grant means we’ll be able to bring our city and community resources together to design the improvements we need for more affordable housing, commercial vitality and mass transit as well as pedestrian-friendly and bicycle-friendly neighborhoods,” Bates said.

The MTC’s Priority Development Area grant will fund community meetings and other outreach efforts to gather input and ideas from residents, businesses and local groups and institutions. It will also include an Environmental Impact Report. 

The project’s goals also include local jobs, improved safety, historic preservation, cohesive streetscape design, public art and assessing the role that the Ashby BART parking lot could play in achieving community goals while maintaining the Ashby BART flea market. Also on the agenda is better connectivity between the greater South Berkley neighborhood and Ashby BART, Downtown Berkeley and the East Bay corridor.

The Adeline Corridor is well poised for transformative planning -- building on several new developments in recent years, including the Ed Roberts Campus next to Ashby BART, the Tuesday Farmers’ Market, plans for a 46-unit affordable senior housing project and numerous unique shops, restaurants, galleries and performing arts venues.

—Information submitted by the Berkeley Mayor's Office