3401 Grand Ave Oakland, CA 94610, USA -
Grand Lake
This isn't an emergency, but it is a huge problem. The timing of the light at Grand and Elwood is awful. The rest of the Grand Ave traffic calming project has been terrific. It's just this light's timing that makes the project look bad. Specifically, the light seems to give priority to Elwood, not Grand. The green cycle on Grand is long enough to allow about three cars through. That's not enough even to empty the backup between Elwood and Mandana—a very small block. As a result, a significant amount of traffic is routing down Warfield, Wickson, and Walker to Lake Park in an attempt to avoid this intersection. Fortunately, it's only the timing of the light that needs to change. No restriping, no repaving, no new signals or turn lanes. Just a longer green on Grand so traffic can flow through from upper Grand and Mandana.