El Cerrito Transportation Network

Ohlone Greenway

Last updated September 20, 2026.

A sourced record of El Cerrito’s major transportation, bikeway and transit-oriented housing projects, their funding structures, and documented delays. Drawn from City Council staff reports and minutes, the City’s biennial capital budget, CEQA documents, agreements and correspondence with the Strategic Growth Council (SGC), and documents from state, county, regional and BART agencies.

Summary

For more than a decade, the City of El Cerrito has planned for more homes, more shops and safer streets along San Pablo Avenue and around its two BART stations. Those plans are now becoming buildings and street projects. Most of the money comes from state, federal, county and regional grants, not from the City’s own funds.

Decided

• The San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan (adopted September 2014; environmental review for the update adopted December 6, 2022) sets the building rules for the avenue.
• On July 3, 2024 the City’s Zoning Administrator approved a master plan for 743 homes on BART’s parking lots at El Cerrito Plaza, under state law and without a City Council vote. 351 of the 743 homes are income-restricted.

Built or under construction

• The del Norte street project had its ribbon cutting on July 13, 2026. Its estimated cost rose from $13.25 million (September 17, 2021) to $14.92 million (BART, July 31, 2023).
• The first Plaza housing building (70 homes) has been under construction since November 2025.

Ahead

• Richmond Street: cost plan $12,878,610 (March 3, 2026), up from $10,104,010 in 2023. Construction is planned for late fall 2026.
• The second Plaza building (84 homes): state grant not recommended December 10, 2025. A new application (total request $40.2 million) went in for Round 10, with results expected in December 2026.
• Measure C, the library parcel tax, failed June 2, 2026. The BART plan includes a library only if the City finds financing.

One funding change

• In 2024 the state awarded an AHSC grant for the first Plaza building, part of which pays for east-west bike routes. On March 3, 2026 the council raised Richmond Street’s share of that grant from $988,000 to $1,800,600. On May 20, 2026 the state approved by email a change adding a Class II bikeway on Richmond and Elm Streets to the grant’s bikeway list. The documents reviewed do not say why the City asked, and do not say whether the same bike lanes are paid for twice. See Richmond Street.

Where the records disagree and what is not confirmed

• City and agency documents give different numbers or dates for the same thing in 17 places. See Where City Documents Disagree, which gives the documents, dates and pages for each.
• Not confirmed: whether the state formally amended the grant after the May 20, 2026 email; whether the California Transportation Commission approved $800,000 for Richmond Street on August 20–21, 2026.

Pages

• Richmond Street & Complete Streets — the multi-thread funding history for Richmond Street bike lanes, including a funded application that was denied and a separate grant that was redirected to the same corridor
• El Cerrito Plaza BART Housing (TOD) — the 743-home BART plan, its first two buildings, funding, and the library contingency
• del Norte Complete Streets — the built street project, its schedule and its differing cost figures
• San Pablo Specific Plan — the 2014 plan and 2022 update, versions, results and the Midtown/Downtown street project
• Ohlone Greenway — the city-length Class I path and planned downtown improvements
• Parking Management — the Dixon Resources parking management contract and its delays
• Measure A Origin & PCI Trends — the tax’s original purpose, how its use evolved, and pavement condition data 2008–present
• Plans, Timeline and Terms — how the plans connect, a dated timeline and a glossary
• Who Pays: Funding, Consultants and Staff — funding sources, the housing fund, consultants named in the documents
• Where City Documents Disagree — the main differences between documents, with both sources

How to read these pages

Every section ends with its source: the document, its date, and the page, slide or item where available. Where funding sources appear to overlap or a claim can’t be fully reconciled against a primary document, that is flagged explicitly rather than resolved by assumption. Dollar figures carry their dates. An award is money promised, not money spent. Do not add a project’s total to the grants inside it.

© Ira Sharenow