Albany Has Plans to Close Streets Leading to the El Cerrito Plaza

There is an interesting story in the Contra Costa Times posted on Friday the 12th. It looks like the closing of Cornell and Talbot Avenue and creation of a cul-de-sac at the end of Evelyn Avenue on the south side of the El Cerrito Plaza is in the works. This could benefit the apartment buildings and houses located on these streets by reducing traffic. It could also cause much of the through traffic to be shifted to San Pablo Avenue, creating traffic jams.

To complicate matters further, the city seems to be using the closure of the streets as a bargaining chip with a developer that has a proposed 128-unit condominium building to be built in the El Cerrito Plaza parking lot. It will be interesting to see how this progresses.