The City of Alameda has officially scheduled a special meeting on August 24 at 7:00 p.m. to discuss Oakland Roots and Soul’s 8,000-seat modular stadium proposal at its training facility on Harbor Bay Parkway.
In addition to Oakland Roots hosting 20 to 24 soccer matches annually, they are calling for Soul SC to host five to seven games at 3,000 capacity, and three to five “other sports events” with a capacity between 500 and 2,500. With maximum attendance, Roots and Soul estimate an annual attendance of up to 235,000 patrons.
The organization wrote that they also considered playing at seven other locations, but each was deemed unviable for multiple reasons. This includes Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, the College of Alameda, Merritt College, Edwards Field in Berkeley, Cal State East Bay in Hayward, Laney College, and continuing at the Coliseum.
Roots and Soul provided exhibits detailing their plans for lighting fixtures, modular grandstands, concessions, ADA surfaces, restrooms, and bicycle parking. Most importantly, they provide a deep dive into the most pressing issues surrounding traffic control, vehicle parking, and noise.
It’s worth noting that an official vote will not take place at the August 24 meeting. Here’s a rundown of all the most important topics.
Traffic Control
Traffic coming to and from the island was a pressing topic at its board meeting on June 12. Per the club’s data research, the project would generate about 1,490 vehicle trips within one hour of game start time on a Wednesday evening and around 2,490 vehicle trips one hour after game end time on a Saturday under worst-case conditions for a maximum capacity event. This represents an approximately 19 percent and 31 percent increase in average daily traffic volumes at the intersection of Ron Cowan Parkway and Harbor Bay Parkway.
To quell traffic from traveling through Bay Farm Island, Roots and Soul intend to have traffic control blocking cars from entering Maitland Drive and the Harbor Bay Parkway west of Loop Road.
Parking Availability
Roots and Soul write that parking availability will be sized to accommodate its anticipated attendance, with 1,800 to 2,100 parking spaces available to be reserved when a ticket or season ticket is purchased.
Parking locations are still to be determined in the Harbor Bay Business Park, but there are still plans to accommodate visitors at the Coliseum BART station and along Hegenberger — as indicated in the initial proposal in June. Back in the initial proposal, Roots and Soul mentioned there are 4,000 parking spaces within the business park, meaning they would need roughly half of that number.
The club writes, “Parking would be professionally managed and monitored, with security and post-event cleanup included as part of the program.”
Below is a diagram of prospective parking lots, where the arrows indicate the entrance and exit points for each potential lot.
Noise Control
As you would expect with a small community like Bay Farm Island, noise was a pressing topic at the June 12 board meeting and will be a primary hurdle for Roots and Soul to gain clearance. Per Roots and Soul’s report, noise from the Harbor Bay Parkway facility would not result in hourly levels that exceed Alameda’s standards.
“Results of the noise modeling indicate the project would not result in hourly noise levels that
exceed the City’s base exterior noise standards for residential and commercial properties, nor
would it result in a substantial increase in noise because it would not increase daily noise exposure
levels at any property line by 6 dBA Ldn (decibel levels) or more,” wrote the club.
According to the report, the organization projects they would increase daily noise exposure from
59.1 decibel levels to 59.6, which are considered normal by the City of Alameda’s General Plan.
The loudest of Roots and Soul’s projections is its loudspeaker hitting a decibel level of 110 at 3.3 feet from the speaker face. With games limited to 10:00 p.m., the organization writes that their project would not exceed Alameda’s noise standards for residential or commercial properties.
“[Our project] would not result in noise levels that exceed the City’s exterior noise standards for residential and commercial properties nor otherwise result in a substantial temporary or permanent increase in ambient noise levels,” the club wrote.
To help minimize speaker noise traveling to residential areas, Roots and Soul propose that they will configure sound to be directed toward the field and airport.
With Roots and Soul’s supporter groups, drumming has become a hallmark part of the gameday experience. The club estimates that crowd noise with drumming was measured at 93 decibels at a distance of 14 feet away, which is approximately 16 decibels higher than without drumming.
As for how sound travels to homes along Bay Farm Island, the organization writes that the worst-case projected noise level at any residential receptor is estimated to be 54.5 decibels, which does not exceed the City of Alameda’s base exterior noise standard of 55 decibels at any residential location.
Construction and Timeline
As for the construction and timeline of the facility, Roots and Soul writes that they would begin in early October, with eyes on finishing by March 2027 in time for the USL Championship regular season. The timeline is as follows:
- October through December would focus on site preparation, demolition of limited areas, minor grading, and installation of electrical infrastructure in shallow trenches.
- From December to February 2027, the organization will install its new light poles and do limited foundation work.
- From February to March, their modular grandstands will be erected, fencing will be put up, along with final pavement touch-ups.
Additionally, Roots and Soul will put up a scoreboard and videoboard at the northeastern end of the field and display in a southwesterly direction. The videoboard will be mounted approximately 20 feet high by 34 feet long.
We’ll provide more on Oakland Roots and Soul’s stadium developments as the news becomes available.