- Some are concerned about the city’s response to the area’s most serious problem.
- The problems that led to the stop sign change stem from a homeless encampment
The city of Oakland recently removed traffic lights from a busy intersection and replaced them with stop signs after the electrical boxes that controlled the traffic lights were repeatedly tampered with and copper was stolen from them.
Local residents and business owners in the area say the problem with the traffic lights is due to the nearby homeless encampment, which has grown over the years.
The owner of a vehicle repair shop on the corner of the intersection, Tam Le, said the city is signaling that it is “giving up on us” by installing stop signs.
For months, the traffic lights did not work. They flashed red or went out completely, causing confusing and dangerous driving conditions in the area.
‘The city tried to fix the traffic light at least a few times. But once they fix it, usually in about a week, it goes out again,” Le said, according to CBS News.
The city of Oakland recently removed traffic lights from a busy intersection and replaced them with stop signs.
For months, the traffic lights did not work. They flashed red or went out completely, causing confusing and dangerous driving conditions in the area; some blame the occupants of a nearby homeless encampment.
The real problem, he says, is the homeless people who steal power from the city’s electrical boxes and copper from the traffic lights themselves.
Local resident Mason Young told the outlet that the old stop signs are “a completely new solution to a problem that has taken many forms here.”
He said the big red signs are better than the malfunctioning traffic lights, which he said were responsible for sending a truck into one of Le’s repair shop fences for months.
But, he added, putting another “band-aid” on a much larger problem is not a sustainable solution, especially in an area that has become noticeably more violent in recent years, although “bleeding out” is much preferable.
Le has been operating his business at the intersection for a quarter of a century, but fears the expansion of the homeless encampment could mean the end of his livelihood.
“If you really want to fix the stop sign, I think you really have to clean up this homeless encampment,” he said.
A Bay Area city spokesperson said they had tried to partially fix the problem by placing heavy cinder blocks on top of the city’s electrical boxes, but people stealing electricity simply pushed them over.
The owner of a vehicle repair shop on the corner of the intersection, Tam Le (pictured), said the city is signaling that it is “giving up on us” by installing stop signs.
Right now, the encampment (pictured) spans about three blocks on E. 12th Street and has only continued to grow despite some previous attempts by the city to clear it.
The city also said the stop signs at the intersection of E. 12th Street and 16th Avenue are temporary, but they currently have no timeline for when they will be replaced again with regular traffic lights.
The city also said the stop signs at the intersection of E. 12th Street and 16th Avenue are temporary, but they currently have no timeline for when they will be replaced again with regular traffic lights.
He tells her that a large number of businesses have already closed on E. 12th and he’s not sure “how long we’ll be here.”
“Because once they (the occupants of the homeless encampment) move to our side of the sidewalk, we will leave,” he added.
Right now, the encampment spans about three blocks on E. 12th Street and has only continued to grow despite some previous attempts by the city to clear it.