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Vision 980 Study

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Vision 980 Study: Engagement and Outreach Round Two

We are excited to announce the launch of the next round of engagement and outreach activities and events for the Vision 980 Study! Your insights have helped us understand the community’s needs and aspirations for the future of the freeway. Thanks to your participation, we have been able to develop a set of potential corridor scenarios for the freeway and surrounding community that aim to create a safer and more vibrant corridor and reconnect the neighborhoods of downtown Oakland and West Oakland. Sign up for our email list HERE to receive updates on our next round of outreach.

Upcoming Events

Online Survey #2 – Take our new survey using this link. The survey will be open until Friday, July 11th, 2025.  Survey #2 invites you to review and comment on three corridor scenarios for enhancing, covering, or removing the I‑980 corridor; your feedback will highlight the most popular elements, clarify trade‑offs, and help us develop a single, community‑driven preferred alternative and shape the future connection between West Oakland and downtown Oakland.

Mobile Workshop – Join the Vision 980 team at the 18th Annual Oakland Juneteenth Celebration on Saturday, June 21st, 2025, from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM at 3233 Market Street, Oakland, CA 94609 for an interactive mobile workshop that invites you to help shape the future of West Oakland. In the spirit of this year’s theme — “We Are Tapping into the Ancestors’ Wisdom and Having the Freedom to Express Ourselves” — we’re gathering community input on a series of potential corridor scenarios for what could replace the I-980 freeway.

Public Meeting/Open House – Mark your calendars for an upcoming public meeting/open house on Wednesday, June 25th, 2025, at The Center-Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) Central Kitchen located at 2850 West Street, Oakland, CA, 94608 anytime from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM to help reimagine the future of the I-980 corridor in Oakland. This event is a critical opportunity for residents to help shape an equitable future by reflecting on the past and envisioning what comes next. Attendees will learn more about Vision 980’s progress, the goals and context of the initiative, and explore potential corridor scenarios to provide direct feedback to the project team. Please register for the Open House on Eventbrite HERE (registration is not required to attend).

Stay Involved

Please monitor this webpage to stay informed of the progress of the study and upcoming opportunities to provide feedback and meet with the study team.

We also invite you to sign up up for our email list here to provide feedback and learn more about upcoming study activities.

If you have questions about the Vision 980 Study, please contact Caltrans project manager Becky Frank (Vision980@dot.ca.gov) and outreach lead Randolph Belle (randolph@rbacreative.com).

About the Vision 980 Study

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is conducting the Vision 980 Study to hear from the community about ways to reimagine the I-980 corridor. The I-980 freeway divides neighborhoods in West Oakland from downtown Oakland and is a barrier to travel and economic opportunities. The Vision 980 Study aims to improve the quality of life for impacted residents through a community-led and equitable visioning process that seeks to reimagine the freeway to create new opportunities for land-uses like housing, businesses, open space, recreational, and cultural facilities.

Previous racially discriminatory decision making and redlining policies resulted in I-980 directly cutting through West Oakland. The freeway’s 1.6-mile-long connection between I-880 and I-580 displaced many West Oakland families and led to community disinvestment. Today, I-980 represents a painful physical monument to the segregation and discrimination of generations past. Some of the possibilities for the future of the corridor may include:

  • Improving connections between communities.
  • Redesigning roadways and over/underpasses for walking, biking, and transit.
  • Transforming the freeway including the potential to add more crossings, a freeway cap/deck, or to convert the freeway into a boulevard.
  • Creating new opportunities such as housing, open space, and access to economic opportunities.

The image below shows the study area, which is bounded by Broadway to the east, West MacArthur Boulevard to the north, Frontage Road to the west, and 3rd Street to the south.

Map showing the Vision 980 study area, which is bounded by Broadway and Telegraph Avenue to the east, West MacArthur Boulevard to the north, Peralta Street to the west, and 7th Street to the south.

The study is split into two phases:

  • Phase 1 will include collaboration with study partners, community organizations, and the public to identify a new corridor concept/vision for transportation and land use along the corridor and develop an evaluation framework to ensure the concept/vision meets equity performance measures or benchmarks. The image below shows the process for Phase 1, which is the current phase of the study. This phase is expected to be completed by November 2025.

    Graphic showing the steps in Phase 1 of the Vision 980 study. Existing Conditions: Create project awareness and generate excitement; Build public trust; Understand public goals, aspirations, and priorities. Scenario Development: Seek input on potential scenarios for the corridor developed from public feedback; Demonstrate how feedback informed the creation of the scenarios. Corridor Concept/Vision: Present and seek feedback on the identified corridor concept/vision; Adjust elements that were or were not well received by the public

  • Phase 2 will include similar collaboration with study partners, community organizations, and the public to perform a more detailed feasibility and technical analysis of the concept/vision identified in Phase 1. This phase will begin following the completion of Phase 1.

Vision 980 Study Phase 1 completed public documents are linked below. If you have any questions about these, feel free to contact the study team at: Vision980@ca.dot.gov

  • Baseline & Future Conditions Story Map: This report explains the current and projected future social, economic, physical, and operational conditions of the neighborhoods adjacent to I-980.

Caltrans is supported by an experienced and local consultant team including the following:

  • Arup
  • RBA Creative
  • Urban Strategies Council
  • West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project
  • West Oakland Health Council
  • WSP

The study team is also working in close coordination with the following study partners:

  • Alameda County Transportation Commission
  • City of Oakland
  • Metropolitan Transportation Commission

As shown in the image below, construction of I-980 began in 1968. Prior to this, West Oakland was a vibrant and active community that suffered from decades of disinvestment as a result of federal redlining policies and suburbanization aided by white flight after World War II. The specific routing of the freeway was chosen to connect the then recently completed Grove-Shafter Freeway (State Route 24) and Cypress Freeway (I-880). Ultimately, this involved taking over 42 acres of property, including the removal of 503 houses, 155 trees, four churches, 22 businesses, and 142 jobs.

Timeline of key events related to Interstate 980 including the proposal of the Grove-Shafter Freeway in 1946, construction beginning in 1968, the opening of I-980 in 1985, and the effects of the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. The timeline also includes a note of the 503 houses, 4 churches, 22 businesses, and 155 trees removed as part of building I-980.
Image created by ConnectOAKLAND.org.

The Segregation by Design project uses historic aerial photography to document the destruction of communities of color due to redlining, “urban renewal”, and freeway construction. This site includes imagery from 1948, 1968, 1988, and 2002 to show the impact of the construction of I-980 in terms of dividing the community (Susaneck, Adam Paul. “Segregation by Design.” TU Delft Centre for the Just City, 2024. https://www.segregationbydesign.com/). The freeway bisected the neighborhood and created a physical barrier for residents and visitors that exists today.