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Editor: 

The Library Gardens project is designed with an eye toward pedestrian safety inside and out. Misinformation was recently repeated in “Library Gardens Not In Sync…,” that pedestrian safety was not considered in the design of the Library Gardens project.  

This is not the case. The 2020 Kittredge Street Parking Garage (Hinks) will be demolished this summer, and replaced immediately thereafter with a new 3-level garage, which will be safer and more efficient for parkers, pedestrians, as well as for the neighborhood. 

For 10 years, I have been on the sidewalks of Kittredge, Milvia and Shattuck in the mornings, at noontime, and after school lets out, in and around the students.  

We are very concerned about student safety, as well as the safety of other visitors in the downtown area. Kids will be kids.  

They don’t pay attention to cars. They think they’re invincible. But, our drivers in and around the downtown drive very safely. They move slowly and carefully. 

There has not been an auto/pedestrian accident in the area.  

For years, students left the campus at the gateway on Milvia, at the foot of Kittredge. Only recently has this gateway been closed due to construction (and now, temporarily, the students are walking up Allston to the downtown). Of the 3,500 students who attend Berkeley High, every noon, 1,000 go into Civic Center park - 1,000 stream up to Shattuck. 

Students in and around the downtown are an everyday occurrence. Visitors who drive in the downtown are well aware that they need to move slowly and carefully. And they do. In the mornings, parents drive north/south on Milvia or east/west on Allston , and drop off their children, and the kids cross the street to the campus. This has been a common occurrence before, during and, we expect, after construction. But this drop-off traffic on Milvia and Allston has nothing to do with the parking garage. There are no drop offs of students near the garage entrances. (Recently, parents petitioned the Council to paint a loading zone on the curb on Milvia to accommodate this practice.) Many drop offs still occur near the intersection of Bancroft and Milvia, near the gyms. The student drop off traffic in the morning is distant from cars entering the garage. 

The garage morning traffic consists of many YMCA members who come to the downtown for an early workout. "Y" members generally are very heads up, aware, safe, and courteous. There have been no morning accidents. Other traffic in and around the garage consist of the post office trucks who back in and out of the loading dock at the rear of the main post office that faces Kittredge Street. Post office drivers are very cautious and courteous. There have been no incidents. 

The Library Gardens project is very much in sync with the neighborhood. The area consists of bold, strong, robust buildings that stand shoulder-to-shoulder in civic urban life. The neighbors in the apartments across the street have welcomed the project. Civic leaders in the library have welcomed the Library Gardens project (they can hardly wait to issue new library cards to all the new downtown residents). 

Among other safety measures, traffic entering and exiting the new garage is being disbursed half on Kittredge and half on Bancroft. Currently, all visitors enter on Kittredge, and (except for special circumstances), all visitors exit on Kittredge. The new garage is designed with an automatic gate for monthly parkers and residents to enter and exit on Bancroft, visitors will continue to enter and exit on Kittredge. The Kittredge entrance will have 3 lanes, one for entry, two for exiting (a left-hand only and a right-hand only exit lane). These traffic controls were considered by the City, and their safety recommendations have been incorporated. Many safety details will be constructed to maximize the customer-friendly, safe and welcoming environment of the soon-to-be-built new 2020 Kittredge Street Parking Garage at the Library Gardens Apartments project. 

Our on-site management is always available to respond to customer concerns. Visitor safety in/around, inside/outside of the Garage, has always been, and will continue to be, of paramount concern. Comments and suggestions from the public are welcome. Please feel free to drop by at any time with your suggestions. 

John H. DeClercq 

for Library Gardens, L.P.