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Agenda Item
7 23-0872 Subject: Community Traffic Safety Program
From: Councilmember Fife
Recommendation: Adopt A Resolution Declaring The City Council's Intent And Desire To Establish A 3-Year Pilot For A Short-Term Encroachment Permit Program That Allows Schools, Businesses, And Community Centers That Serve Vulnerable Populations To Apply For Temporary Encroachment Permits To Install Removable Traffic Safety Treatments And Create Traffic Calming Zones In The City's Streets And Directing The City Administrator To Hold At Least Two (2) Community Meetings In Areas Of The City Within Oakland Department Of Transportation's Identified High Injury Network To Solicit Feedback From Residents And Community Based Organizations And Assess Their Interest And Ability To Participate In The Pilot Program; And To Return To The Public Safety Committee Meeting On February 13, 2024 With A Report And Recommendations, Including The Following:
(1) Information On Cities In California Or The United States That Have Successfully Implemented Similar Programs To Reduce The Number Of Traffic Accidents And Fatalities And Increase Safety For All Who Travel On Public Streets;
(2) Recommendations To Council About Legislative Or Administrative Changes Needed In Order To Implement A Similar Program In Oakland;
(3) Information Gathered From Residents And Community Based Organizations At Two Community 2 Meetings Assessing Their Interest And Ability To Participate In The Pilot Program;
(4) An Analysis Of Staffing And Budget Needs In Order To Begin And Sustain The Pilot Program; And
(5) A Report Exploring The Feasibility And Developing A Plan And Timeline For The City Of Oakland To Become A "Vision Zero Network" Member City
I am strongly in favor of this proposal. My 4th-grade daughter (OUSD) should be able to walk to school alone. Sadly, we have had to pull her by her backpack out of crosswalks where speeding drivers run lights, fail to yield to us, or overtake other cars illegally. There was an incident in the crosswalk directly in front of her school where a kid was hit by a car and fortunately was not seriously harmed. In our neighborhood there are countless accidents (a fatal one just last week) caused by speeding down Fruitvale Avenue. Consequences for dangerous driving and taffic calming measures are a must!
I am a D4 resident and parent of a student at Sequoia elementary, and I support this traffic safety pilot resolution introduced by CM Fife. Earlier this year, a Sequoia student was hit by a car while inside the school crosswalk and it has been challenging to implement traffic safety improvements that would help mitigate these kinds of accidents. Our school created an Oak311 ticket to address short-term safety needs (1340038) and OakDOT has not had the capacity to assist us with implementing short term suggestions. Road design on Lincoln Ave allows drivers to ignore speed limits, stop signs, and pedestrian crosswalks, so installing temporary and removable traffic safety treatments to calm this busy road has been, and will continue to be, a priority for our community. This issue plagues many Oakland schools, and I fully support prioritizing those school communities most at risk. All Oakland students deserve safe routes to school.
I am a Sequoia Elementary parent commenting in support of this traffic safety pilot resolution. A Sequoia student was hit by a car while inside the school crosswalk in August and it's been difficult to implement any improvements in the short term. Our school created an Oak311 ticket to address short-term safety needs (1340038) and OakDOT has neither been able to provide a path for our community to implement them nor implement any of our short term suggestions. Road design on Lincoln Ave allows drivers to ignore speed limits, stop signs, and pedestrian crosswalks, so installing temporary and removable traffic safety treatments to calm this busy road has been, and will continue to be, a priority for our community. This issue plagues many Oakland schools. All Oakland students deserve safe routes to school.
I strongly support this resolution and applaud Councilmember Fife and advocates for crafting it. I advocate for streets to be safer for people who walk, bike, and get around outside of cars. Through that work, I've seen that despite best intentions, staffing capacity, funding, and restrictive engineering standards make it nearly impossible to install and maintain the life-saving, people-centered safety elements like concrete-protected intersections, crosswalks, bulb-outs, parklets, chicanes, car filters, diverters, and traffic circles. It is past time that the city allow residents to create safety on their own streets when the city currently can't deliver the amount of interventions needed. This is an innovative solution that has the added benefit of allowing more residents to participate and work with government to create community safety together.
Hi, I am very much in favor of this proposal. I bike to school daily with my two kids (OUSD students) and can attest to the necessity of safe and green methods of transportation. If we make these routes more bike friendly we will make our communities safer and more enjoyable for all. Thank you.
I am in strong support of this. As a person whose main form of transportation for decades was a bicycle, I have experienced multiple close calls with reckless drivers. I have also almost been hit 3 times in the last year crossing the street with my dog, in a crosswalk at a stop sign as cars race down a main thoroughfare in west Oakland. I am in favor of using traffic calming techniques to make the streets safer for all.
I strongly support this measure. I bike with my 6 year old child everyday. Biking/walking are our main mode of transportation to school, library, parks, farmers markets and all the activities kids enjoy. We have experienced countless occasions that made us feared for our safety due to unsafe road conditions/designs or unsafe driving practices. I grew up walking to school on my own since 1st grade, and the roads were safe for kids to walk to or bike to friends’s, after school programs or extra curricular activities on their own. Kids were very independent and parents have more time on their hands.
To make Oakland vibrant, safe and healthy community, road safety for all is vital.
I support this measure. Too often, I see traffic conditions in Oakland that are unsafe. My child attends middle school only a 15 minute walk from our home, but I pick her up in a car because I am nervous about unsafe drivers.
As a parent with children attending school in Oakland, I am strongly supportive of the proposal for a pilot program prioritizing the safety of our kids. The initiative's ability to expedite the deployment of safety measures on perilous roads near schools is much-needed and wholeheartedly supported. This program is a critical step in the right direction.
-Anagha Sreenivasan
It’s scary to be a driver and especially a pedestrian or cyclist with the way some people are driving out there. We need to craft solutions to calm traffic and save lives.
As a parent with children attending Oakland public schools, I am relieved to see the proposal for a pilot program prioritizing the safety around schools. The initiative's ability to expedite the deployment of safety measures on perilous roads near schools is much-needed and wholeheartedly supported. This program is a critical step in the right direction.
I’m a D1 resident with a 6 year old. My whole family bikes to school and everywhere else. Streets need to be safer for vulnerable road users like 6 year olds on two wheels getting to school!
As a parent living along W MacArthur Blvd (near a 580 on ramp) in Oakland, I couldn’t express more strongly my support for measures that help create calm streets. Traffic calming pilots like this one are a great way to directly involve the community, to address local concerns promptly, and to help ensure the safety of children, seniors, pedestrians, bicyclists and other vulnerable road users. Thank you for thoughtful consideration and your commitment to making Oakland streets safer for all.
Highly support this. We would love for our daughter to walk to school on her own. The only scary part is the traffic. Also happy to see less air and noise pollution around the school.
I live in D1, am a parent of an elementary school aged student and strongly support this resolution.
Kids deserve to take up space on streets, and deserve to be able to get to school safely without fear of injury or other harm from drivers. Allowing for traffic calming and safety treatments will allow more students to actively transport themselves to school. Students will be able to get healthy physical activity, make friends, contribute to cleaner air, and learn independence. Physical activity in the morning leads to better-focused students and improved educational outcomes. Fewer car trips makes driving easier for those who must drive to get to school.
Parents already want their kids to be able to walk, bike or roll to school without fear of injury, and the city needs to prioritize an environment that allows this.
Thornhill Community Corridor member here (D4), in strong support of improvements to enable safer walking and biking to get to school, libraries, parks, work, bus routes and around the neighborhood.
Oakland's traffic is out of control and there doesn't seem to be any appetite for enforcement of even the most basic traffic laws. Making it difficult or impossible to speed, double park, or otherwise endanger pedestrians and cyclists is critical given this lack of enforcement. This should be a no-brainer: let the community work to solve this dangerous problem!
As an Oakland resident and daily pedestrian, cyclist, and transit rider, I wholeheartedly support this resolution.
I'm a D4 resident, and my family walks and bikes to school every day. The speeding and careless driving is out of control throughout our city, and we need more and faster solutions. I think this is a good short to medium-term solution, but I also urge city leaders to do more to slow down streets throughout the city. Ultimately it's your responsibility to build infrastructure that is safe for everyone, not just people in cars.
I'm D4 resident and parent of kids who attend school in Oakland. I wish it was safer and more inviting to bike kids to school instead of driving, but the roads are too dangerous for most people to try.
I strongly support efforts to make streets safer. It would make me drive less if I could bike and walk more
I support creating special driving rules near schools. I use Lincoln regularly, and appreciate the slowing procedures near the elementary school.
I am strongly in favor of this proposal. My 4th-grade daughter (OUSD) should be able to walk to school alone. Sadly, we have had to pull her by her backpack out of crosswalks where speeding drivers run lights, fail to yield to us, or overtake other cars illegally. There was an incident in the crosswalk directly in front of her school where a kid was hit by a car and fortunately was not seriously harmed. In our neighborhood there are countless accidents (a fatal one just last week) caused by speeding down Fruitvale Avenue. Consequences for dangerous driving and taffic calming measures are a must!
I am a D4 resident and parent of a student at Sequoia elementary, and I support this traffic safety pilot resolution introduced by CM Fife. Earlier this year, a Sequoia student was hit by a car while inside the school crosswalk and it has been challenging to implement traffic safety improvements that would help mitigate these kinds of accidents. Our school created an Oak311 ticket to address short-term safety needs (1340038) and OakDOT has not had the capacity to assist us with implementing short term suggestions. Road design on Lincoln Ave allows drivers to ignore speed limits, stop signs, and pedestrian crosswalks, so installing temporary and removable traffic safety treatments to calm this busy road has been, and will continue to be, a priority for our community. This issue plagues many Oakland schools, and I fully support prioritizing those school communities most at risk. All Oakland students deserve safe routes to school.
I am a Sequoia Elementary parent commenting in support of this traffic safety pilot resolution. A Sequoia student was hit by a car while inside the school crosswalk in August and it's been difficult to implement any improvements in the short term. Our school created an Oak311 ticket to address short-term safety needs (1340038) and OakDOT has neither been able to provide a path for our community to implement them nor implement any of our short term suggestions. Road design on Lincoln Ave allows drivers to ignore speed limits, stop signs, and pedestrian crosswalks, so installing temporary and removable traffic safety treatments to calm this busy road has been, and will continue to be, a priority for our community. This issue plagues many Oakland schools. All Oakland students deserve safe routes to school.
I strongly support this resolution and applaud Councilmember Fife and advocates for crafting it. I advocate for streets to be safer for people who walk, bike, and get around outside of cars. Through that work, I've seen that despite best intentions, staffing capacity, funding, and restrictive engineering standards make it nearly impossible to install and maintain the life-saving, people-centered safety elements like concrete-protected intersections, crosswalks, bulb-outs, parklets, chicanes, car filters, diverters, and traffic circles. It is past time that the city allow residents to create safety on their own streets when the city currently can't deliver the amount of interventions needed. This is an innovative solution that has the added benefit of allowing more residents to participate and work with government to create community safety together.
Hi, I am very much in favor of this proposal. I bike to school daily with my two kids (OUSD students) and can attest to the necessity of safe and green methods of transportation. If we make these routes more bike friendly we will make our communities safer and more enjoyable for all. Thank you.
I am in strong support of this. As a person whose main form of transportation for decades was a bicycle, I have experienced multiple close calls with reckless drivers. I have also almost been hit 3 times in the last year crossing the street with my dog, in a crosswalk at a stop sign as cars race down a main thoroughfare in west Oakland. I am in favor of using traffic calming techniques to make the streets safer for all.
I strongly support this measure. I bike with my 6 year old child everyday. Biking/walking are our main mode of transportation to school, library, parks, farmers markets and all the activities kids enjoy. We have experienced countless occasions that made us feared for our safety due to unsafe road conditions/designs or unsafe driving practices. I grew up walking to school on my own since 1st grade, and the roads were safe for kids to walk to or bike to friends’s, after school programs or extra curricular activities on their own. Kids were very independent and parents have more time on their hands.
To make Oakland vibrant, safe and healthy community, road safety for all is vital.
I support this measure. Too often, I see traffic conditions in Oakland that are unsafe. My child attends middle school only a 15 minute walk from our home, but I pick her up in a car because I am nervous about unsafe drivers.
As a parent with children attending school in Oakland, I am strongly supportive of the proposal for a pilot program prioritizing the safety of our kids. The initiative's ability to expedite the deployment of safety measures on perilous roads near schools is much-needed and wholeheartedly supported. This program is a critical step in the right direction.
-Anagha Sreenivasan
It’s scary to be a driver and especially a pedestrian or cyclist with the way some people are driving out there. We need to craft solutions to calm traffic and save lives.
As a parent with children attending Oakland public schools, I am relieved to see the proposal for a pilot program prioritizing the safety around schools. The initiative's ability to expedite the deployment of safety measures on perilous roads near schools is much-needed and wholeheartedly supported. This program is a critical step in the right direction.
I’m a D1 resident with a 6 year old. My whole family bikes to school and everywhere else. Streets need to be safer for vulnerable road users like 6 year olds on two wheels getting to school!
As a parent living along W MacArthur Blvd (near a 580 on ramp) in Oakland, I couldn’t express more strongly my support for measures that help create calm streets. Traffic calming pilots like this one are a great way to directly involve the community, to address local concerns promptly, and to help ensure the safety of children, seniors, pedestrians, bicyclists and other vulnerable road users. Thank you for thoughtful consideration and your commitment to making Oakland streets safer for all.
I'm an ousd parent and support this!
Highly support this. We would love for our daughter to walk to school on her own. The only scary part is the traffic. Also happy to see less air and noise pollution around the school.
I live in D1, am a parent of an elementary school aged student and strongly support this resolution.
Kids deserve to take up space on streets, and deserve to be able to get to school safely without fear of injury or other harm from drivers. Allowing for traffic calming and safety treatments will allow more students to actively transport themselves to school. Students will be able to get healthy physical activity, make friends, contribute to cleaner air, and learn independence. Physical activity in the morning leads to better-focused students and improved educational outcomes. Fewer car trips makes driving easier for those who must drive to get to school.
Parents already want their kids to be able to walk, bike or roll to school without fear of injury, and the city needs to prioritize an environment that allows this.
Thornhill Community Corridor member here (D4), in strong support of improvements to enable safer walking and biking to get to school, libraries, parks, work, bus routes and around the neighborhood.
Oakland's traffic is out of control and there doesn't seem to be any appetite for enforcement of even the most basic traffic laws. Making it difficult or impossible to speed, double park, or otherwise endanger pedestrians and cyclists is critical given this lack of enforcement. This should be a no-brainer: let the community work to solve this dangerous problem!
As an Oakland resident and daily pedestrian, cyclist, and transit rider, I wholeheartedly support this resolution.
I'm a D4 resident, and my family walks and bikes to school every day. The speeding and careless driving is out of control throughout our city, and we need more and faster solutions. I think this is a good short to medium-term solution, but I also urge city leaders to do more to slow down streets throughout the city. Ultimately it's your responsibility to build infrastructure that is safe for everyone, not just people in cars.
I'm D4 resident and parent of kids who attend school in Oakland. I wish it was safer and more inviting to bike kids to school instead of driving, but the roads are too dangerous for most people to try.
I strongly support efforts to make streets safer. It would make me drive less if I could bike and walk more