Moraga Avenue's Crosswalks Have a Start Date. Its Parks Are Waiting on a Developer.

A contractor is expected to start work on Moraga Avenue in early October. The job covers pedestrian bulbouts, ADA curb ramps and traffic signal changes at Ramona, Highland and Red Rock, and if the weather holds it should wrap up in February. It is a small, funded, fully scheduled project, and it is the only part of the corridor's future that has a date attached.

The larger change, deciding which side of Moraga Avenue gives up its current use for new housing, isn't on any City Council agenda. Piedmont gave that choice to the housing developer it is still selecting. Whichever team the City picks will propose building either on Blair Park's open space south of the road, or on the Kennelly Skate Park and Public Works corporation yard site to the north.

The Contract Signed on September 22

The City Council awarded the Moraga Avenue Pedestrian Safety Project to Terocons, Inc. on September 22 for $785,533. Adding a 10 percent contingency brings the construction budget to $864,086. The contract covers Moraga Avenue from Ramona Avenue to Red Rock.

The bidding was competitive. Fifteen contractors bid between $779,130 and $1,200,842, against an engineer's estimate of $1,096,269. The lowest bid was set aside because it was missing a signed acknowledgment of an addendum, so the contract went to the second-lowest bidder. The award came in more than $300,000 under the City's own estimate. The money comes from Measure BB local streets funds, the Vehicle Registration Fee, SB 1 and an Alameda County Transportation Commission grant.

The contract allows 80 working days, about 16 weeks, counted from the date on the City's notice to proceed. As of October 3, the City's project page still says "Pre-construction," and no lane closure or detour notice has been posted. The project page also lists a different set of intersections than the September award report, so the three corners named in the award report are the ones to go by.

This schedule has already moved once. In August 2025, when the Council accepted the county grant, Piedmont Exedra reported construction planned for May through September 2026, at four locations including Mesa. Under the current contract, the work runs through the rainy season instead of finishing before it.

Why These Three Corners

The project carries out recommendations from the Piedmont Safer Streets Plan, which the City adopted on December 6, 2021. The plan's community needs assessment called speeding on Moraga dangerous for cyclists on the hills and curves and for pedestrians at several intersections, "especially at Coaches Field." In October 2021, the plan's high-priority crossing table listed Moraga at Red Rock Road and Moraga at Highland Avenue.

The City's newer traffic counts point to the same problem. A June 2026 presentation to prospective developers put weekday traffic on Moraga Avenue at about 11,000 vehicles. The median speed was about 35 mph and the 85th-percentile speed was 38 to 39 mph, on a road posted at 25. In other words, the typical driver goes about 10 mph over the limit. The same counts found about three pedestrians an hour crossing at Red Rock Road and about five bicycles an hour on Moraga in both directions. Those numbers help explain the bike lane added in 2023, which runs uphill from Red Rock Road to the Oakland border. When it went in, the City also added edge striping on the downhill side to narrow the travel lane and slow traffic.

The Red Rock intersection also appears in the housing plan, and the two projects shouldn't be confused. The Moraga Canyon Specific Plan proposes a three-way signal at Red Rock Road, along with a pedestrian refuge island and flashing beacons that warn drivers of the intersection ahead. The stated goal is to slow traffic and make turns into and out of Red Rock easier. That concept is part of the housing project's roadway package, along with an upgraded bike lane and other safety changes along Moraga. It moves on the developer's timeline. This fall's contract does not include it.

What Sits on Each Side of the Road Today

The housing plan affects three places, each with its own history.

Blair Park, south of the road, is described by the City as a natural, unlandscaped area used mainly by dog owners, with very limited parking. It shares a name with Walter Blair's 1880s picnic park lower on Moraga, but it is a different piece of land. That older story is covered in our post on the quarry and hotel that shaped Piedmont's walking loops.

On the north side, Coaches Field was dedicated in 1994. Its sports field was built in 2001 with support from Piedmont native Ken "Bebe" Rawlings, the founder of Otis Spunkmeyer, and the field honors the city's youth coaches. The City says local youth soccer and softball teams use the grass field often.

Up a flight of stairs behind the softball field is the William F. Kennelly Skate Park. It opened in 2001 and is named for the Kennelly family, whose donation helped build it. It has concrete ramps and bowls. Helmets, kneepads and shoulder pads are required, and BMX riders can use it on a limited schedule. The Fall 2026 Recreation guide lists seasonal hours and says the park closes in bad weather and on smoke days. Next to it is the Public Works corporation yard, on land the City bought in the 1920s.

The Choice Piedmont Left to the Developer

The Council adopted the Moraga Canyon Specific Plan on October 6, 2025. The plan sets a framework. It does not approve any particular project. It allows about 4.78 acres of multifamily housing on either side of Moraga Avenue, plus 0.31 acres for single-family homes near Maxwelton Road and Abbott Way. The City's June 2026 presentation lays out what each option means for the places above.

The housing requirements are the same on either side. The City's solicitation calls for at least 132 homes. At least 60 units, or 40 percent of the total if that is higher, must be priced below market for households earning 60 percent of area median income or less, and at least 40 of those must serve very-low and extremely-low income households. The affordable units can be in a separate building, but they have to be on the same side of Moraga Avenue as the rest of the project. The single-family lots are optional for the developer. If they are built, the two hillside lots above the current yard would be sold to help pay for improvements to Coaches Field, Moraga Avenue or both.

Put together, the plan ties improvements to the ballfield and the road to how the housing project is put together and financed. The developer's choice of site will decide which of these places changes.

The Calendar Between Now and December

Here is where the developer process stands, based on the City's own documents:

1. August 10, 2026. Qualifications from developer teams were due at 5 p.m.
2. August 17, September 8 and September 22. None of these Council agendas included an item on the developer solicitation. The September 22 meeting took up the crosswalk contract instead.
3. October 5, 2026. The next scheduled Council meeting.
4. December 2026. The latest City target for an exclusive negotiating agreement with a chosen developer. City staff have said Piedmont needs to be negotiating with a partner by then to pursue about $2 million in Measure A-1 funds.

Several steps follow that agreement. The City's question-and-answer document says it does not plan a second round of solicitations. The current process is expected to lead straight to the negotiating agreement. After that, the selected team does its due diligence, gets any needed entitlements and environmental review, and negotiates development agreements. Before any land changes hands, the City plans to post notice of a public hearing 30 days before the Council considers the transfer. Before posting that notice, staff will send the draft surplus-land declaration to the state housing department for review and ask for a findings letter.

The City did post a list of 48 people who expressed interest in the project or attended the June conference or site tour. Organizations on it include MidPen Housing, Mercy Housing, EBALDC, the Unity Council, HCEB, AMG Land Development and The Core Companies. The list shows early interest only. It does not show who submitted qualifications, and the City has not announced how many responses it received.

So this fall, Moraga Avenue is getting new curb ramps, bulbouts and signal changes at three intersections. The question of whether Blair Park or the skate park site gets the housing is expected to be answered once the City names its developer, with December 2026 as the target.

If you live near the Moraga corridor, on Abbott Way, Maxwelton Road or one of the streets off Red Rock, and want to talk through how these two timelines affect your property, Debbi DiMaggio and the DiMaggio Betta Group follow every step of this process closely. Schedule your VIP consultation, and we'll go over what is confirmed, what is still pending and what to watch for at the next Council meeting.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.