Description
For the past 15+ years, members of the community have been requesting improvements to the "crosswalk" at the corner of 58th & Telegraph. Numerous people have been hit due to the lack of attention and respect by motorist who use this portion of Telegraph as a speedway to get to either Highway 24 or Berkeley. There is definitely not proper signage or lights to highlight that pedestrians are utilizing this popular crosswalk.
Here are a few examples :
Wednesday: The photo attached was taken Wednesday night when we witnessed a man going Northbound on Telegraph almost hit a woman who was crossing the street . All other cars stopped, but he did not feel the need to, shouting expletives and other unnecessary comments.
Saturday: We were hanging our anniversary sign Saturday, and we witnessed about 6 people that were almost hit. I guess getting to the Cal Game was a matter of "life or your death" for some people.
Sunday: Following worship, we witness cars almost hit a man and his family with small children in the crosswalk. The car was in half of the crosswalk! Craziness!
Please address this issue. Traffic studies have been done and nothing has transpired. Previous councilpersons were notified, and nothing was done. We thank you for being swift in this matter.
11 Comments
Acknowledged City of Oakland (Verified Official)
concerned resident (Guest)
Memorial Tabernacle Church (Registered User)
Corinne Clawson (Registered User)
Women's Cancer Resource Center (Guest)
I work at Women's Cancer Resource Center and many clients need to park on the East side of Telegraph and they feel very unsafe crossing Telegraph. I have witnessed and heard too many accidents at this intersection.
We really need a stop light here so that pedestrians can cross the street safely and to help slow the traffic down.
Robert Prinz (Registered User)
The City of Oakland has a "crosswalk decision matrix" they are supposed to use to determine if a location warrants a crosswalk, and then a "crosswalk treatment options" flow chart to determine which type of crosswalk to paint as well as additional treatments like signage, advance stop lines, lights, etc. Both documents can be found online at www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca/groups/pwa/documents/report/oak025058.pdf
Although these charts are mainly used when a street is getting repaved or redesigned, you can still use these standards to help make your case for upgrades to the crosswalk at Telegraph and 58th, as the parallel white lines currently in use are not up to the new standard the city is implementing.
The neighbors on 55th Street between Shattuck and Market streets had two crosswalks painted along this stretch, making their case by referring to these documents. The installation still took a long time, but it did finally happen.
Memorial Tabernacle Church (Registered User)
Memorial Tabernacle Church (Registered User)
Dana Hull (Registered User)
John G (Registered User)
Too many drivers are fixated on getting through the green light (and it's usually green!) at 59th and Telegraph so they're not willing to stop here, or even slow down, for pedestrians. I've seen a driver who stopped for a pedestrian actually get honked by other drivers. Traffic calming techniques are badly needed here.
This crossing needs traffic lights or flashing signs; it needs rumble strips (roughened pavement surface on both sides of the crossing) or road bumps. Drivers have to be made to wake up and be prepared to stop for people who need to cross.
wcrc (Registered User)