Oakland residents are furious after being forced to cross an eight-lane highway, and their local lawmaker is accused of being too reluctant to work to clear a homeless encampment blocking the riverside road.
Pedestrians have posted angry messages online criticizing city council speaker Nikki Fortunato Bas for failing to clear away tents and belongings clogging the scenic canal bike path.
Local blogger Roger Rudick described the situation as “infuriating.” “There should be no need to cross Lake Merritt Boulevard on foot or by bike in the first place,” Rudick wrote on SF Streets Blog.
‘The city built a beautiful pedestrian and bicycle path more than a decade ago along the canal that runs under Lake Merritt Boulevard and the Nimitz Expressway.
“Unfortunately, it has not been usable for a couple of years. The path is completely blocked by camps, litter and even parked cars.”
Oakland pedestrians are furious after being forced to cross an eight-lane highway because their local lawmaker is “too lazy” to clear a homeless encampment blocking the riverside path.
Oakland residents have posted angry messages on their blog criticizing City Council Speaker Nikki Fortunato Bas (pictured) for failing to remove tents and belongings clogging the scenic waterway bike path.
Instead, pedestrians must navigate the dangerous eight-lane Lake Merritt Boulevard, where wide lanes and relative lack of traffic encourage motorists to cruise the highway at breakneck speeds.
Locals also took to Reddit to rant about the camp’s ban, saying they had “been complaining about it for years.”
“I’m pretty tolerant and usually just walk past,” one person wrote.
‘I have traveled this route for years on the way back to Lake Merritt Bart Station.
‘The campground has been permanently closed with a stop sign, a gate, and a “No Trespassing” sign!
“It’s a whole new level of entitlement. How and why is this allowed? I tried it anyway and the guy started yelling at me and told me to leave.”
Others also shared stories of being yelled at to get away from the area and even threatened with a guard dog.
Several placed the blame squarely on President Bas, including Rudick, who warned that it was only a matter of time before a serious accident occurred on the eight-lane highway as a result of so many pedestrians having to cross over it.
She said the progressive lawmaker seemed unwilling to work hard enough to improve the lives of her constituents and address difficult issues.
Bas’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Oakland as a whole has become synonymous with mass looting, rampant crime, and more than 170 homeless encampments covering entire city blocks.
Oakland has become synonymous with mass looting, rampant crime and homeless encampments covering entire city blocks.
Oakland as a whole has become synonymous with mass looting, rampant crime, and more than 170 homeless encampments covering entire city blocks.
One of the largest campgrounds is located along Highway 880, across from the city’s famous Embarcadero.
A stone’s throw from the centre is another huge camp with a sign welcoming visitors to “the ghost town”, while another, set up in an underpass, has a huge graffitied sign reading: “Fuck this dystopia”.
As a result, the city’s progressive mayor, Sheng Thao, and district attorney, Pamela Price, will face recall elections in November.
Thao’s progressive policies have been blamed for worsening crime, and her involvement in an FBI pay-for-play investigation plunged her into even bigger scandal.
Price has also angered Oaklanders with his insistence on prosecuting criminals “fairly” in a city where one in 30 residents had their car stolen last year.
In February, California Gov. Gavin Newsom was forced to flood the city with California Highway Patrol officers in an attempt to shore up the city’s faltering police department, which was left leaderless for more than a year following Thao’s decision to fire Chief LeRonne Armstrong after he turned whistleblower.
But despite their efforts, crime has continued to rise: robberies are up 23 percent compared to last year and motor vehicle thefts are up a whopping 44 percent.
Meanwhile, the homeless population now stands at a record 5,490 people – double the number from 10 years ago – and 67 percent of them live in encampments on the streets.
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