Oakland welcomes city’s first protected bike lane

Oakland city officials will cut the ribbon Monday morning on the city’s first protected bike lane, three days before Bike to Work Day.

Mayor Libby Schaaf and Councilman Dan Kalb will attend the event at 11 a.m. at the intersection of Keith Avenue and Broadway near state Highway 24.

The new bike lane, called a cycle track, runs both ways and is separated from motor vehicles by a concrete median.

City officials said it’s a step they are taking to make the city’s roads safer for bicyclists.

The cycle track is on Broadway between Keith and Brookside avenues and is meant to improve safety near the Broadway on-ramp to Highway 24, according to Bike East Bay officials.

The cycle track was paid for with money from a settlement with Caltrans over the fourth bore of the Caldecott Tunnel, city officials said.