Ohlone Greenway tour: Berkeley, Albany, & El Cerrito, CA

This is a POV biking tour of the Ohlone Greenway in Berkeley, Albany, and El Cerrito, California. It starts at Ohlone Park and ends at Baxter Creek Gateway Park. The mostly off-street greenway runs north/south parallel to BART and is a fantastic way to move through these towns without a car. Connect with the Richmond Greenway in the North or UC Berkeley in the South.
Future videos will return to Valencia, Spain and show several segments of the San Francisco Bay Trail, starting in Emeryville and Berkeley. Other videos already recorded are the Bay Bridge and Bologna, Italy.
SPECIAL THANKS
Thank you Alex Bidaki and Tony Ouyang for taking the time to give feedback on the video. And thanks to Ian Watson for his picture used for the thumbnail.
To support this channel, please subscribe, share this video and check out the links below.
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SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram / thegreenwaywithmac
Strava / strava
CONTACT
My name is Jonathan MacMillan and this channel is a hobby of mine. I currently live in Alameda, Ca, and we visit my in-laws several times a year in St. Louis. We spent the 2021-22 school year living in Valencia, Spain, which explains why so many videos are from those three areas.
Contact me at [e-mail] if you are interested in collaborating on a project, like a bike ride or a podcast.
LINKS
Ohlone Greenway
en.wikipedia.o...
Bike East Bay's guided tour of Santa Fe Railway
bikeeastbay.or...
Bike boulevards mapped
www.google.com...
Bike Boulevard Commentary
www.berkeleysi...
Bike East Bay
bikeeastbay.org/
Walk Bike Berkeley
www.walkbikebe...
Bruce King
abc7.com/archi...
Bikelink
www.bikelink.o...
Blue Heron Bikes
blueheronbikesb...
Westbrae Biergarten
www.westbraebi...
BART
www.bart.gov/
Improvements coming
berkeleyca.gov...
Albany Playground Loop
www.groundwork...
OpenStreetMap
www.openstreet...

[@tigersonthetown]

Great commentary, and very informative! I really enjoy your videos. I hope some day you make your way down south to do some vids about the multi-use paths that Tucson AZ has to offer.🌵🚲

[@thegreenwaywithmac]

I will definitely make one from Tucson, as that's where my mother lives and I'm just waiting to do it when I visit her. The Chuck Huckleberry Loop is the logical choice (just a part of it), but I recently read about the Cañada del Oro River Park Trail and that distance looks better (about 11 miles). Do you have any suggestions?

[@tigersonthetown]

@@thegreenwaywithmac That’s great to hear! Yeah, those two paths that you mentioned are excellent options. We also have some recently designated bike boulevards like 3rd Street-University which goes through the college, or Treat Ave through some residential neighborhoods and parks which connects to The Loop.

[@thegreenwaywithmac]

That's really helpful to know. I like showing both the greenways and city routes. I'll need to do both. I'll send a note to ask more about a bike boulevard residential route.

[@FirstLast-jm4dx]

I used to bike commute between the West Oakland BART station and Point Richmond, so I have ridden the Richmond & Ohlone Greenways a few times. Even though you said the Bay Trail is a more indirect way, I find that to be much quicker than using the two greenways (way too many stop signs/lights along that route).

[@thegreenwaywithmac]

I totally agree that it’s faster. I think what I meant was if you were riding a segment of those parallel paths. It might not be worth going all the way down to the Bay Trail and back, unless you were doing most or all of the ride to Richmond. There are also limited safe connections down and back.

[@KugelBlitz0]

Great video. I have an ebike and plan on using the greenway to visit Berkeley. Will I be able to use the throttle on that pathway, or would that be a bad idea? I don't plan on going any faster than 15mph. Totally fine with just pedaling, too.

[@thegreenwaywithmac]

I recorded this video with my e-bike and it is no problem. I typically use the throttle when I start moving and then pedal assist for normal riding. There’s no e-bike police on the trail. 😊

[@Urbanhandyman]

As a whole I would rate the path a C-. It's obviously not a single path but a grouping of different paths built at different times and in different ways. It suffers from being too narrow and lacks cross-town connections. To raise the score to a C+ I would raise the path at every street crossing so that cars encounter the path as a raised speed bump. This will slow them down instinctively. Cars currently only see painted stripes and are on the lookout more for pedestrians than faster bicycles. Current reaction times are problematic and I've personally almost been hit while in my car by a fast "sprinting" bicyclist appearing out of nowhere from behind one of the BART elevated line columns on Fairmount Avenue next to the El Cerrito BART station. The fact that the stop signs along the bike trail are ignored by all bicyclists when approaching a street crossing demonstrates a problem. I'm not blaming bicyclists, I'm blaming the design of these intersections. A reworking needs to occur in favor of bicyclists safely crossing the street without actually having to stop. That's why I propose the raised bike path acting as a speed bump for cars. Add the flashing yellow LED lights as one sees on Central Avenue at the El Cerrito BART station and I believe the combination will greatly improve rider safety. To raise it to a B grade I would make the path wider, at least by fifty-percent. That includes adding the raised crossings at intersections. The current infrastructure doesn't allow for relaxed, any-age, usage. You still have to be a bit of a bicycle advocate to use the trail regularly. In other words, make the path super simple and SAFE to use and that will allow for a large increase in ridership. That in turn will spur more cross-town bike path connections. That in turn will generate WORLD PEA.........never mind. In summation: Current grade (C-) Add raised crossings at every street creating a smooth ride for bicyclists and a necessary (speed lowering) speed bump for approaching cars and trucks. Adding LED flashing lighting would be a good bonus feature (C+) Add the C+ improvements and make the paths wider by at least fifty-percent (B) Raising it to an A-grade would involve fully separated lanes from pedestrian traffic and I'm not sure that there's the space for it. Grade B wins it for me in this case.

[@thegreenwaywithmac]

It's hard to argue with your logic. These additions would be a huge change. I'm a big fan of the raised sections at street crossings. There were two times just in the recording of this video when drivers didn't even both slowing down at the crossings. I know they are planning some upgrades, specifically at Hopkins, where they will add some protected bike lanes for the most confusing section on the trail. They can't come soon enough. Do parents in the neighborhood use the path to get their kids to/from school? I 100% agree and mention in my video that the lack of safe access to the trail is its achilles heel. There is so much potential for this to be a busy, thriving corridor, but it means riding on the sidewalk if you're not right next to the greenway. If the trail got busy enough, then I imagine the next step would be widening the path 50% like you suggest.

[@ckildegaard]

Just curious, is this real-time? If so, you're a pretty fast rider!

[@thegreenwaywithmac]

Yeah, I think it was all real time. I record these on an e-bike so the video is shorter (and I don’t need to write as long of a script).

[@trebortd]

Nice video. I think biking is a good thing to do. I did notice that you avoided stopping at stop signs and I was wondering how you can criticize car drivers when you didn't follow the rules of good biking. I am not trying to make you angry. I just think you should be a good role model to the younger folks that may watch your channel. Good luck, I have subscribed.

[@thegreenwaywithmac]

Hey, thanks for subscribing. When it comes to cars vs. bikes, it's a couple things. If there are no cars coming, then I like to follow the Idaho Stop. While not a law yet in CA, it gets close to passing each year and I believe it is logical. But in addition, it's just a mismatch of force. If I make a mistake and hit someone, people can get banged up, but it's likely not serious. For cars, their mistakes are fatal, especially if you get over 25 mph.

[@mwilyumr]

Odd that there aren't more bikes on the path. We hardly see anyone pass you in the opposite direction

[@thegreenwaywithmac]

Yeah, it really depends on the day and time. I’m always torn whether to record these when there is a ton of people, like on a weekend, or less. It’s a little safer to record with fewer people, but yeah, makes the path look unused.

[@markandrizzi9252]

…In Berkeley itself most of the surface streets are just in terrible condition…

[@thegreenwaywithmac]

Funny you should say that. I have a short video coming out soon that is in the streets of Berkeley (Berkeley Bowl West to Crystol Red Park on the 9th St bicycle boulevard). Berkeley is shockingly bad for biking overall.