Berkeley I-80 Bicycle and Pedestrian Overcrossing

Berkeley, California

SGA was selected by the City of Berkeley to facilitate the public engagement process, select the preferred location and alignment, develop project design guidelines, and create a conceptual project design for this well-known bicycle/pedestrian structure.

The Berkeley Bike Bridge was the first of a number of bold new bicycle and pedestrian bridge projects in the Bay Area which break the 1950’s mold for pedestrian overcrossings by demonstrating that more gently sloped and wider approach ramps, gently curving approaches that draw your eye and invite you to climb them, viewing areas that relate to water and open-space features, non-standard structural forms that attract the attention of motorists, and clear mode separation can be well worth the additional costs in terms of how many cyclists and pedestrians will actually use a crossing on a daily basis.

SGA’s design for the spanning structure was lauded by the San Francisco Chronicle and won the hearts and minds of the local advocacy community. The design features a color pallet chosen to be color-appropriate to the wetland context, a simple circular curve in plan with two pylons that are strategically placed such that forces on the pylons from stay cables are balanced. The triangular shape of the pylons resist seismic and wind loads and relate visually to the shapes formed by the cable stays.

Year: Construction completed in 2002
Cost: $6.4 Million
Scope of Work: Pre-Design, Public Process, Design Guidelines, 30% design of approaches, Structure type selection studies
Client:  City of Berkeley
Agencies Involved: Caltrans, EBMUD, the Army Corps of Engineers