HAYWARD — Cal State East Bay graduate students will share some of what they’ve learned about the area’s colorful history on Thursday, May 16.

The presentations include:

– Michael Burton, “Port Costa: Sustaining an Unlikely Coastal California Boomtown, 1879-1909;”

– Edwin Contreras, “Mexican Land Grants: The Case of Don Castro’s Rancho San Lorenzo;”

– Olga Kachina, “How Global History Became Local: The Memory of the 1918 Izhevsk-Votkinsk Anti-Bolshevik Uprising as It Is Preserved in California;”

– Andrew Levin, “BART: The Backbone for Who?”

– Bria Reiniger, “Salt of the Hayward Shoreline: The Oliver Salt Company;”

– Carlotta Falzone Robinson, “Designing a Unified City: The Aesthetic Ideals of the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.”

The free talks begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Pancho Villa Event Center, 1026 B St. The event is a collaboration of the Hayward Area Historical Society, the History Department at Cal State East Bay and the Pancho Villa Event Center.

HAYWARD — Two crosswalks on A Street that were removed as part of changing Foothill Boulevard, A Street and Mission Boulevard to one way are going back in.

Merchants, Councilman Francisco Zermeno and several residents had objected to the removal of the crosswalks, and pedestrians have been jaywalking at the two intersections since the loop began.

The crosswalk at A and Mission was on the south side of the intersection by Starbucks and the block of A with Buon Appetito. The crosswalk at A and Foothill is on the west side between the consignment shop and CVS pharmacy.

With the removal of the crosswalks, it can take pedestrians more than six minutes to get from one side of the street to the other because they have to make three crossings.

Hayward’s traffic consultants determined the crosswalks can be reinstated “with minimal impact to traffic flow at those intersections,” according to a report from the city manager. The report didn’t say when the crosswalks would be put in, just “as quickly as possible after the redesign is complete and the required equipment, such as additional pedestrian push buttons and signal heads, are purchased.”

In case you missed it, Hayward staff members will be holding a meeting Thursday to talk about the loop and the rest of the Route 238 Corridor Improvement project.

It seems everybody has an opinion on the new one-way traffic loop through downtown Hayward that started March 16. My perspective? It seems to work if you’re in the correct lane to get to where you want to go. I’m hoping that with final paving, striping and signs, it will be more clearer.

I have been testing out the loop from different approaches for a week. It is still confusing as to which lane you need to be in, but I think we’ll figure that out. I do hope that Hayward PD has radar guns out on Foothill Boulevard headed north; the tickets from speeders could generate quite a bit of income for the city.

Drivers headed east on A Street seem to be confused when they hit the one-way segment. Some are looping back down B Street and then right to A Street west; others seem to have no idea where to go. I’m pretty sure I would be confused, if not downright lost, if I were not from Hayward and was trying to head east on A Street.

Now, what does this mean to downtown merchants? I’m sure they will express their opinions at Thursday’s meeting, which starts at 9 a.m. in Room 1C at City Hall, 777 B St. Can’t make the meeting? The city’s loop website: haywardloop.org.

HAYWARD — A rumor was circulating that the city planned to use a helicopter to put the last two signal bridges in place along Foothill Boulevard.

Not so, says Morad Fakhrai, Hayward’s director of public works, engineering and transportation.

He said someone did actually check to see if using a helicopter would make sense. Turns out the signal bridges would be too heavy for a helicopter to lift.

Instead, two cranes will be used to install the bridges sometime this week. The work will be done late at night.

Meanwhile, drivers and pedestrians are adjusting to the new one-way traffic loop. Hayward police were stationed at major intersections Monday morning with lights flashing on their cruisers, mostly to try to get motorists to pay attention. Old habits die hard.

A lot more motorists were using B Street on Monday. There didn’t seem to be as many wrong-way drivers on the loop.

The city of Hayward has started its campaign to let people know that some downtown streets will become one-way on March 15.

The city hired someone to put together an explainer that is going in water bills and is online. It contains some interesting statements: “The Loop is easy!” “The Loop is a small change with a BIG new look for Downtown!” “Easy Access to all Downtown Businesses.” Hmmm.

There also is a typo in the insert that was sent out to many water customers and on big signs along Mission Boulevard between A and B and near the main library: It refers to Off the Gird. As gourmet food truck followers know, that should be Off the Grid.

In fairness, a Hayward official said the typo was pointed out by city staff. But apparently not soon enough.

The city also has made a video explaining the loop. It has little colored cars speeding through downtown with cheerful music in the background. The voice-over refers to “the downtown one-way traffic circulation, or the ‘loop’ as it’s more affectionately called.” Gosh, I can’t remember the loop and “affectionately” being used in the same sentence.

Check it out at www.youtube.com/watch?v=09hSr8GlPq4&feature=youtu.be. There’s also a link at http://user.govoutreach.com/hayward/faq.php?cid=14252, but I couldn’t get it to load.

(Sorry, but I have not been able to get links to work on this blog. Working on it.)

Starting March 15, Foothill will be one-way north between its intersection with Jackson Street-Mission Boulevard up to A Street. A will be one-way west between Foothill and Mission, and Mission will be one-way south from A down to the Jackson-Mission-Foothill intersection.

The one-way traffic loop through downtown Hayward is scheduled for early March, according to the city’s website. I am working to get a more precise date, since March is less than three weeks away.

What’s involved: Massive traffic signal bridges that are being fabricated to order in Utah have to be shipped here. That entails getting permits to drive uber-wide loads through several states.

Once the bridges are here, there’s no good place to store them – we’re talking really wide – so they probably will go up pronto, though “pronto” still will take some doing and time. The bridges will span intersections along Foothill. The foundations (which run deep) were constructed earlier; remember those plywood boards for pedestrians near traffic lights? The foundations have been filled with asphalt for pedestrian safety. The bridges couldn’t be ordered until the foundations were constructed. It’s complicated, but Foothill is an old street, and the underground pipes and conduits aren’t always where the blueprints say they are, so each bridge’s specs are different. The asphalt was temporary and will be dug out.

Final paving of the loop – Five Flags north on Foothill to A Street, left on A to Mission Boulevard, south on Mission back to Five Flags – and lane striping will be needed, so, combined with installation of the signal bridges, we’re looking at major road closures and detours coming up. And you thought traffic was bad now!

Next week: According to city’s website, expect lane closures on Mission and Foothill, mostly Mission from Industrial to about Moreau High School both ways and Mission from Jackson Street to Highland Avenue, both ways.

The good news: Driving down Mission, big stretches are finished except for landscaping. The roads are smooth, and the ugly utility poles are gone. The lights look great.

This loop’s for you

Those words were said in jest at a meeting Thursday to update folks on the Route 238 Corridor Improvement Project through Mission Boulevard and downtown, but they are a reminder that love it or hate it, the one-way traffic loop through downtown Hayward is coming soon.

At the meeting Thursday, city project manager Kevin Briggs said the loop will be put in place in March, though he did not yet have an exact date. A big unknown is when the massive signal bridges that will span Foothill will arrive. Deliverers of the bridges, which are being fabricated to order in Utah, have to get permits to drive the wide structures down roads in several states. Stay tuned.

Hayward staff members have been saying “spring” for when roadwork will be finished, but remember, spring is through late June. The delays have not been intentional; some have been weather, some have been the result of digging up streets and finding unexpected things underground (Hayward downtown is really old and maps aren’t always accurate; some have been because some water and gas lines were not set deep enough. Talking with city officials, it seems they would like for this to be finished ASAP.

Paving on south Mission is supposed to finish next week, so with any luck, traffic will improve in that area. And city staff members are aware that traffic is slow; Briggs was stuck on Mission Thursday trying to get to his meeting at City Hall.

Hayward city officials will hold their monthly update meeting Thursday on the Route 238 Corridor Improvement Project that includes Foothill Boulevard south from Interstate 580 through downtown and Mission Boulevard from A Street south to Industrial Parkway.

Merchants along Foothill and A Street have asked that some on-street parking, which would be eliminated as part of the work, be restored. At Thursday’s meeting, city staff members are expected to show where they plan to allow parking.

The road project includes a one-way traffic “loop” through downtown. So far, the city has not said when the loop will go into effect.

The meeting begins at 9 a.m. Jan. 24 in Conference Room 2A at Hayward City Hall, 777 B St.

Road construction on the Route 238 Corridor project is focused on Mission Boulevard from St. Clement Church south to Industrial Parkway. The work will continue through Feb. 1. According to the city’s website, “access to driveways and intersections will be affected during the work.” I assume that means they will be blocked at least part of the time. Expect delays through the area.

Update: The development was approved by the council last week. No public comments. bit.ly/S0Qhru
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The Hayward City Council will hear a request tonight to extend the Stonebrae development agreement another five years.

Stonebrae sits above Cal State East Bay in the Hayward hills. As part of the project, it built an elementary school and added a golf course.

The council approved a 10-year agreement with what was then Hayward 1900 for the project in 1999, and the first subdivision map was approved in 2005. The project stalled because of the recession, and the developer was given a five-year extension in 2008. That extension expires in February.

So far, there are 250 occupied houses in the development. According to a staff report, developers are planning about 180 more, which would be built over the next five years. Developers also want to construct a permanent clubhouse at the golf course.

When the project was proposed, it was fought by environmentalists and others concerned about the additional traffic on Fairview Avenue, Hayward Boulevard and Oakes Drive. And now it would add more traffic onto Five Canyons Parkway into Castro Valley.

No one spoke against the project when it went before the Planning Commission in December.

The meeting starts at 7:30 in Council Chambers, Hayward City Hall, 777 B St.