From Versailles Avenue to High Street, Fernside Boulevard has run as a two-lane street with a center turn lane down the middle. Past High Street, toward Tilden Way, it already looks different: one travel lane each way, painted buffered bike lanes, and no center lane. That eastern stretch is the model. The City of Alameda says the segment west of High will be rebuilt to look "similar to Fernside Blvd east of High St," and the repaving that started in mid-October is the first step.
The layout comes in layers through the rest of this year and into 2027. The most argued-over piece of this corner of the Bronze Coast, the left turn from Gibbons Drive onto High Street, isn't in this round at all. It stays an open question, and the City plans to revisit it with data from what goes in now.
The resurfacing comes first, and there's one more round
Fernside between Versailles and High is getting a slurry seal, not a full rebuild. The City's Pavement Management Project Phase 44 page describes slurry and cape seals as surface treatments. They protect the asphalt from sun damage and water and buy the roadway another five to seven years before it needs resealing or a rebuild.
The City's October 13 schedule update listed Fernside work on October 14 and October 20–21. If that schedule held, the remaining major dates on Fernside are Thursday, November 5, and Friday, November 6. The City stresses that these dates can change. Weather, broken equipment, or other problems can push work to the next available day.
Some practical points from the City for those two days:
- Parking is prohibited on work dates, and parked cars will be towed. The City says to trust the posted signs over its online table. "No Parking" signs typically go up at least 72 hours before work starts.
- Stay off fresh slurry until the road reopens. The City warns it is "very sticky and difficult to remove from shoes, tires, driveways, clothing, carpets, and pets."
- Don't run water toward the gutter on application day. Sprinklers or a hose washing down a driveway can leave a permanent stain on the new surface in front of a house.
- Work hours run 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
When the City announced the start of work, Alameda Post reported that some days would need a half-street closure with two-way traffic kept open. Side streets onto Fernside may be restricted at times, and access to the new Tilden Way roundabout stays open throughout.
Why the new street will look unfinished for a while
The paving is the base layer. The new layout is painted and bolted on top of it afterward. In its October 13 bulletin, the City said that once the pavement repair is done, the project will add "new flashing beacons, new marked crosswalks, and quick-build safety interventions for all modes." The next sentence sets the pace: "Some elements, like the flashing beacons, may not be constructed until 2027."
The City's general sequence for Phase 44 streets explains the gap. Striping and signage go in last, and that step typically takes two to four weeks, depending on the size of the job. So for a stretch of time, the street will have fresh blacktop with temporary or partial markings. After that comes a period with the new lanes but without every crossing feature the plan calls for.
Here's what the finished near-term design includes and where each piece stands, based on what the City has published:
| Piece | Where | Timing the City has given |
|---|---|---|
| Slurry seal | Versailles Ave to High St | Remaining dates November 5–6, subject to change |
| Two travel lanes, buffered bike lanes, no center turn lane | Versailles Ave to High St | After paving; striping typically takes two to four weeks |
| Quick-build pedestrian median islands and new marked crosswalks | Along the segment | After paving |
| Flashing beacons | Western crossing at Versailles, western crossing at Harvard, both crossings at Cornell | "May not be constructed until 2027" |
| Paint-and-post bulb-out | Southwest corner of Gibbons/High/Fernside | 2026 and early 2027 |
The median islands were added in response to the public. The City says they came from "the public's request for more pedestrian safety elements" during outreach, and their job is to shorten the distance someone has to walk across Fernside.
Curb parking changes too. The City's Fernside Boulevard Traffic Calming and Bikeways Project page keeps parking on both sides of the street but estimates about 24% of spaces will go. That space is used for the median islands and for daylighting, the state-required clear zone at intersections. The same page puts peak parking occupancy on this stretch below 50%. The Phase 44 page explains the daylighting rule: AB 413, passed in 2023, bars parking within 20 feet of a marked or unmarked crosswalk. That's roughly one car length at each corner, so expect new red curb at some intersections.
Driveways will work about the same as they do now, according to the City. Bus stop and visitor loading access should be largely unchanged.
The turn that isn't changing yet
The one intersection on this stretch that drew a crowd is still getting only paint this fall.
The City's original long-term concept for Gibbons Drive at High Street and Fernside proposed removing the northeast corner's right-turn slip lane. It also floated "partial traffic limitations between Gibbons Dr and the High St Bridge," pending more analysis. At the March 18, 2025 City Council meeting, 22 speakers addressed the Fernside plan, and many objected to a proposed restriction on left turns from Gibbons onto the High Street Bridge, Alameda Post reported. Council endorsed the corridor concepts but required a traffic study before approving any changes at the Gibbons intersection.
The question came back in November 2025. According to the council minutes, BikeWalk Alameda urged support for a turn-restriction pilot, and the Keep Gibbons Open Coalition submitted a petition with more than 400 signatures. Alameda Post's coverage described a divided neighborhood, with most public speakers opposed to the restriction, and quoted one opponent:
"Temporary has meant permanent before in Alameda."
Council approved quick-build traffic calming and left the turn restriction for later. The City's October 13 bulletin describes the measure going in at the corner now as a paint-and-post bulb-out at the southwest corner of Gibbons/High/Fernside. Its purpose is to slow turns onto Gibbons, and the bulletin notes in plain text "(no turn restriction)."
What happens next, and what it gets measured against
The bulletin lays out the rest of the Gibbons-area sequence:
- The bulb-out at Gibbons/High/Fernside, built in 2026 and early 2027 as part of Phase 44.
- Four speed humps on Gibbons Drive, Southwood Drive, and Cambridge Drive, in early 2027.
- Pilot roundabouts with temporary accessible curb ramps at Gibbons/Northwood/Southwood and at Southwood/Bayo Vista/Fairview, designed and built in 2027. The City says these are "approved only as pilot projects to test these designs before making them permanent."
After those are installed, the bulletin says staff will collect data and go back to the Transportation Commission and City Council. Options at that point could include making the roundabouts permanent, "eliminating the left turn from Gibbons to High Street," or other measures based on what the data shows.
That's why the next year on Fernside and the Gibbons streets matters more than the paving does. The new stripes west of High, the median islands, the bulb-out, the speed humps, and the pilot roundabouts are what the data will be collected on. The left turn people argued over at two council meetings stays open until staff come back with options, and the bulletin doesn't commit to any particular result.
The longer-range plan is further out still. The City's concept for the full corridor, from Tilden Way to San Jose Avenue, calls for a two-way protected bikeway connecting toward the Cross Alameda Trail and the Bay Farm Bicycle Bridge. The implementation goal is 2030, "pending finding funding." In the meantime, the City's Gibbons Dr/High St/Fernside Blvd Safety Updates page is where updates on the corner will be posted.
If you live on Fernside or one of the Gibbons-area streets and wonder how new red curbs, a narrower roadway, or a pilot roundabout down the block could figure into your home's value later, Sophia Niu Group is glad to talk it through, in English or Mandarin. Request a free home valuation and neighborhood consultation, and we'll go over what's changing on your block and when.
