All of the streets requesting inclusion in the residential permit parking program in the neighborhoods around Kaiser Permanente have been approved, with two exceptions: Manila Avenue from 38^th to 40^th streets and 30^th Street from Broadway to Richmond Boulevard. Those streets failed because not enough residences applied for permits there.

The information was provided at a Thursday meeting to update neighbors about the massive Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center Replacement Project being constructed around West MacArthur Boulevard and Broadway. Much of the meeting centered around how traffic will move during and after construction.

At the June 17 meeting, Oakland city staff confirmed that new parking permit signs will be erected around the neighborhoods and parking permits will be mailed out within the next two weeks.

But the confusion and anger surrounding the permit parking issue hasn’t entirely been resolved as some residents who were promised free permit parking have now erroneously been mailed letters asking for payment.

At the meeting, city staff said residents should ignore the payment request if they believe that Kaiser is paying for their parking. If they have questions, they should e-mail parkingadmin@oaklandnet.com or call 800-500-6484.

Residents eligible for the free permit parking should apply for the permits if they haven’t already done so. The city will begin enforcing the permit parking on Aug. 1.

Oakland’s transportation services manager Wlad Wlassowsky said the confusion around the permitting has been exacerbated by the sheer number of people applying for permits.

“It’s close to 3,000 permits,” he said. “It’s really taxing all of our departments to get this out.”

Residents were also concerned about the danger posed to vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians posed at the corner of Piedmont Avenue and MacArthur. Traffic has been disrupted there from its normal flow there to accommodate construction.

In response to the concerns, Kaiser will submit a new traffic control plan for the area next week, which will include moving construction barriers further away from the traffic lanes, re-striping the area and erecting new signs.  

“We want to address the community’s issues, which are traffic congestion, safety for cyclists, safety for pedestrians,” said Josh Peterman, a traffic consultant working for Kaiser. However, some neighbors questioned the effectiveness of the plan. 

Neighbors were more receptive to a plan by Kaiser to build a permanent street median at Richmond Boulevard and MacArthur to prevent left turn lanes there. That project will be vetted through the city’s bicycle & pedestrian advisory committee before it’s constructed.

Kaiser failed to have that committee examine a similar median that now spans MacArthur at Manila and Shafter avenues. As a result, bicyclists have complained about closing off Shafter, which is considered a major bike route, said Judy DeVries, the assistant director of public affairs for Kaiser in the East Bay.

As a result, Kaiser will build a new crosswalk there, which will extend to the entrance at Mosswood Park, and it will include flashing lights on the ground, DeVries said.

The traffic changes were done there as part of phase 1 of the medical center expansion, which includes a new medical office building and parking structure on the northwest corner of Broadway and MacArthur.

Fehr & Peers, a transportation consultant to Kaiser, has completed a study that compares traffic on Manila, Shafter and Cerrito avenues before and after phase 1 was completed. The study shows that traffic volumes have increased by about a third on Manila and Cerrito while decreasing 18 percent on Shafter.

Representatives with Fehr & Peers said that the study will be released to neighbors and will eventually lead to permanent traffic calming measures in the area. Traffic volumes and speeds will continue to be monitored for the next two years, according to the Fehr & Peers report.

The city and Kaiser are also studying closing off Howe Street near the Kaiser parking garage, but documents related to that proposal have not been made public.

The $1 billion Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center Replacement Project is now in its second phase, with the frame of a 1,216-space parking garage taking shape on the southeast corner of West MacArthur Boulevard and Broadway. After the eight-story garage is completed in the spring of 2011, a new 12-story hospital and additional structures will be built on the same block.

Due to all of the new construction, Kaiser has promised to pay for free permit parking for 3,400 residents for the next 50 years. However, the parking program was delayed since a poorly worded letter went out to many hospital neighbors in January.