Agencies Invite Public to Plan New Gateway Park

OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- A public workshop will be held Thursday, February 25 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Joseph P. Bort MetroCenter Auditorium at 101 Eighth Street (corner of Oak Street) in downtown Oakland to engage the community in forming a vision for a park that will provide a memorable gateway to Oakland and the East Bay. All are welcome to attend.

More than 10 years ago, State, city and regional agencies identified a unique opportunity to both create a park at the base of the Bay Bridge East Span and to offer the public an unprecedented way to experience both the new East Span and San Francisco Bay itself.  The roughly 200-acre planning area — which encompasses sites currently slated for commercial and industrial development as well as parkland — generally is bounded by Interstate 80 to the north, San Francisco Bay and the Oakland Outer Harbor to the south and west, and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks to the east.

"Just how we realize the tremendous promise of Gateway Park is now in the hands of the community," invites Rod McMillan, Director of Bridge Oversight and Operations with the Bay Area Toll Authority, who acts as chairman of the Gateway Park Working Group, a consortium of nine agencies working together to bring about a world-class park at the West Oakland site. "We welcome people to join us as we figure out how to transform this unique and challenging site into a remarkable new park. The workshop will help people get to know the site, tackle its challenges and form a vision for a magnificent new Bay destination."

Doors to the Gateway Park Workshop will open at 5 p.m. and presentations will begin at 6:30 p.m. Information about the Gateway Park site and the new Bay Bridge East Span will be on display, and light refreshments will be provided. The MetroCenter is located just across the street from the Lake Merritt BART station. RSVPs are appreciated and may be sent to the Gateway Park Working Group by:

• visiting the Gateway Park Web site at www.BayBridgeGatewayPark.org;
• e-mailing [email protected]; or
• calling (510) 817-5988.

Gateway Park will not only provide a unique Bay Trail destination on the 500-mile bicycle and walking path around San Francisco Bay, it will be a launch point for one of the most spectacular bicycle and pedestrian experiences in the world — crossing the new Bay Bridge East Span from Oakland to Yerba Buena Island.  The park will offer a front-row seat to a dynamic story of global goods movement through the Port of Oakland, the natural resources of the Bay, and a bridge of the 21st century.

Between February and September, the Gateway Park Working Group will agree on goals, target activities essential to the park and consider early design concepts. A Project Study Report will lay out the bold ideas and multiple coordinated steps to the realization of Gateway Park. The report also will set forth the key steps for the next phases: design, engineering, funding and construction. With the new Bay Bridge East Span completion targeted for 2013, this is the time to consider ideas, cultivate innovative approaches and design a park worthy of the site's unique character.

The Gateway Park Working Group includes representatives from the Bay Area Toll Authority, Caltrans, the California Transportation Commission, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, the East Bay Regional Park District, City of Oakland, Port of Oakland, the East Bay Municipal Utility District and the Association of Bay Area Governments' Bay Trail Project.

SOURCE Bay Area Toll Authority