Oakland Traffic Safety: Foothill Boulevard and Beyond

OakDOT is heartbroken to share news that shortly after 6pm on Wednesday, 2/17, a 67-year-old Oakland man was struck and killed by two vehicles as he was crossing the street in an unmarked crosswalk at the intersection of Foothill Blvd and Mitchell St. The man was first struck by a person driving a silver vehicle that was traveling westbound on Foothill Blvd. After the collision, the silver vehicle fled the scene without stopping. The man was then struck by a second vehicle. The driver of that second vehicle stayed on scene and is cooperating with investigating officers. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

This incident is still under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Oakland Police Department Traffic Investigation Unit at (510) 777–8570.

OakDOT is coordinating with our colleagues in OPD to more fully understand the circumstances of this tragic, yet preventable death.

OakDOT has developed a rapid-response protocol to move swiftly when preventable deaths like this occur. In the past, this protocol has helped deliver quick-term safety improvements that can be installed in a matter of weeks — such as painted roadway reconfigurations, flexible plastic posts, improved crosswalk markings, and signage. We are evaluating now what would be most appropriate at this site and will provide updates as we identify the best short-term solutions for this location.

Additional to these rapid-response improvements, when resources and circumstances allow, OakDOT also develops more comprehensive, long-term improvements. In this case, OakDOT has been developing some capital improvements already, in the wake of other nearby tragedies over the last few years. Planned improvements anticipated to break ground in 2021 include:

• Foothill Blvd/Mitchell St/E. 20th St: Crosswalk improvements to simplifying a complicated intersection (see map)

Map of anticipated intersection safety improvements at Foothill Boulevard, Mitchell Street, and E. 20th Street

• Foothill Blvd/26th Ave: Pedestrian Warning Lights — a “Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon” (RRFB)
• Foothill Blvd/27th Ave: New Traffic Signal

We are heartbroken for this man and his loved ones, and determined to provide real improvements at and around this site. We also need to acknowledge there are also bigger systemic issues at play here.

Neighbors of the Foothill corridor, and of far too many Oakland neighborhoods with similar patterns, experience crash after crash and endure an ongoing threat of traffic danger, especially from speeding vehicles, every single day.

As we heard recently from Councilmember Noel Gallo, who represents the district where this crash occurred: “For some members of our community, every day is an emergency.”

Traffic danger goes underrecognized as an example of systemic racism, but the historic under-investment in transportation infrastructure causes death and devastation all the same. This man’s death and far too many like it are the result of systemic failures that disproportionately harm communities and people that are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color , youth, and seniors. Our team analyzed about 2,000 injury crashes from 2012–2016, and found:

• Oaklanders aged 65+ are more than 2 times as likely to be killed in a crash compared to all other Oaklanders.
• Black Oaklanders are 3 times as likely to be killed or severely injured while walking compared to all other Oaklanders.
• 30% of streets in majority-Asian census tracts fall on the City of Oakland Pedestrian High Injury Network — the highest percentage of any ethnicity.

The impacts of these harms are felt in every facet of life. Community members in East Oakland often tell us they feel *constantly* afraid for their safety — and ignored and uncared-for by their local government. These are communities disproportionately impacted by traffic violence as well as gun and other types of violence. They tell us that this fear leads to other health problems, including chronic stress and anxiety.

We are in this line of work to recognize and respond to our communities’ needs — our community tells us this system is failing them, and our data confirms it.

So we are taking action to address these systemic inequities — they are deep and pervasive but they can be uprooted. Some steps we are taking to correct these systemic problems include:

• In the spring we will be presenting to City Council an informational report with recommendations for the City’s first interdepartmental strategy on preventing and eliminating the disparities in traffic fatalities and severe injuries.
• We are continuing to develop innovative and inexpensive interventions for high-injury areas, including the West Coast’s first hardened center line implemented in November 2019 near Garfield Elementary School (making left-hand turns at intersections safer for pedestrians), and a new kind of speed-control installation that will be announced next week on 35th Avenue.
• We are strengthening our method for prioritizing community safety requests, to include updated analysis of equity and crash data and essential locations for residents — driving our limited resources where they are truly most needed.

We cannot truly repair a systemic crisis that we are not prepared to recognize, name, and own, and we will continue working to dismantle the racism of our own system. We also have to grapple with a traffic culture that treats cars as the priority to the detriment of people walking or wheeling or cycling even in their own neighborhoods. And we have to collectively engage the many challenging threads that come together to weave, over and over, situations where a person driving in Oakland hits a person walking, and then drives on while that person lies in the street.

We know we must provide leadership in making systemic change, and that in order for it to be effective we must listen and respond to community voices that have been historically under-represented in decision-making.. We are guided and inspired by the ongoing work of community leaders in Oakland neighborhoods, that historically been underinvested in, who have been fighting for these changes for decades. We remain committed to partnership with our neighbors to better understand the improvements and changes our most vulnerable communities truly need. These issues need MORE pressure. Keep raising your voice. Keep naming your community’s needs. We understand that’s an exhausting request for anyone who’s been demanding change for years.

But the status quo is utterly unacceptable. We need your voices, and your partnership, to deliver the safe transportation system that communities need, and deserve.