A Letter to Caltrans

Messieurs Kempton, Sartipi and Eshqipour:

We wish to bring to your attention several significant conditions with the highway and overpasses in North Oakland that create safety problems for the traveling public and contribute to the appearance of blight in our community. We understand that some, but not all, of the ongoing conditions were brought to your attention by the City of Oakland's lawsuit alleging poor maintenance practices in the Caltrans right-of-way located in the City of Oakland.

These conditions of concern focus on the Highway 24 on-ramp starting at 52nd Street (near Children's Hospital), and the Highway 24 overpasses at 52nd Street, 54th Street and Shattuck Avenue, 55th Street, and 56th Street and Telegraph Avenue.

Highway 24 On-ramp at 52nd Street

1. Uneven/failed pavement: There are several significant areas of uneven or failed pavement on the Highway 24 on-ramp at 52nd Street that create safety concerns. This on-ramp was not part of the scope of work when Highway 24 was recently repaved. As you enter the on-ramp off 52nd Street you pass over the 52nd Street overpass. At this juncture, there is an uneven and jolting transition between the roadway and the 52nd Street overpass. Proceeding in a southerly direction, as you transition to the right lanes towards downtown Oakland from the 52nd Street overpass until you merge with 24/980, the pavement is failing with large cracks in the roadway. As you cross the 40th Street overpass, MacArthur Boulevard overpass and then under the San Francisco bound overpass to merge onto Highway 24/980, this section of the on-ramp has significantly failed causing areas to be severely uneven and very rough particularly at the transitions between the overpasses and the roadway. In addition, an area around one of the footings under the San Francisco bound overpass has settled causing the square footing to jut upwards several inches into the roadway. We are requesting that the roadway from the 52nd Street on-ramp to Highway 24/980 transition be repaved as necessary to achieve a safe and smooth ride for the traveling public.
   
2. Damaged guardrails: After accessing the Highway 24 on-ramp at 52nd Street and crossing the 52nd Street overpass, immediately to ones right the metal beam guardrail has been damaged and several of the posts have been pulled out of the ground causing an unsafe condition for the traveling public. We are requesting that this metal beam guardrail be repaired or replaced to current design standards. We are also requesting that all guard rails in north Oakland be evaluated for safety and replaced as necessary.
   
3. Graffiti: From the 52nd Street on-ramp until the transition to Highway 24/980 and the 27th Street off-ramp, this corridor has been the subject of multiple ongoing graffiti hits. While Caltrans has attempted periodically to cover the graffiti, the response itself has been unsatisfying as Caltrans has used several colors of mismatched paint. It is not clear why the Caltrans Maintenance staff cannot find or have paint mixed that actually matches the existing columns/structures rather than using a myriad of shades. While we appreciate the attempts to cover the graffiti, the response is aesthetically unpleasing and contributes to an appearance of blight. We request that Caltrans step up its graffiti abatement in North Oakland and use matching paint to cover the various shades of gray.
   
4. Litter: From the 52nd Street on-ramp until the transition to Highway 24/980 and the 27th Street off-ramp, this corridor has been the subject of ongoing litter and debris accumulation.We request that Caltrans implement a more frequent litter pickup response in North Oakland.
   
5. Landscaping: From the 52nd Street on-ramp until the transition to Highway 24/980 and the 27th Street off-ramp, the landscaping is either dead, dying, missing or overgrown. The lack of well-maintained landscaping contributes to an appearance of blight and my encourage graffiti and litter. We request that Caltrans maintain the existing landscaping and replace dead or dying landscaping in this North Oakland corridor with appropriate drought tolerant landscaping that can survice in the harsh urban conditions.
   

Highway 24 Overpasses at 52nd Street, 54th Street and Shattuck Avenue, 55th Street, and 56th Street and Telegraph Avenue.

1. Overgrown vegetation: The landscaping at each of these overpasses is often overgrown, creating areas for homeless encampments and potential hiding spots for criminals. We are requesting Caltrans implement a more frequent vegetation control program as the current vegetation management efforts do not appear to be adequate.
   
2. Litter/debris/refuse: These overpasses are subject to ongoing litter, refuse and illegal dumping. We are requesting that Caltrans implement a more frequent and comprehensive litter pickup response as the current litter removal is not adequate.
   
3. Graffiti: These overpasses are subject to ongoing graffiti tags. We are requesting that Caltrans implement a more frequent graffiti abatement response using matching paint as the current graffiti abatement efforts are not adequate.
   
4. Homeless encampments: Various homeless people have taken up residence in the landscaping under the overpasses, contributing to crime, graffiti and litter in the area. This is a significant concern as they use the concrete ledge/bench just at the top of the slope under the overpasses as areas to camp. We are requesting that Caltrans secure the concrete ledge/bench with fencing or other materials on each overpass that will for allow maintenance activities, but prevent the homeless from camping on the concrete ledge/bench. We believe the concrete ledges/benches provide an attractive nuisance. Should someone attempting to access these areas fall and hurt themselves, Caltrans could be held liable. We also request that Caltrans work with the California Highway Patrol and/or the Oakland Police Department to ensure that the areas are properly patrolled to enforce trespassing laws.
   
5. Barriers to Pedestrians: When originally built, the overpasses created significant physical and psychological barriers for pedestrians moving under the overpasses on local roads and sidewalks. The current conditions of the areas under the overpasses contribute to an appearance of blight and crime, and create a "no mans land". We believe that many of the maintenance problems/issues associated with the overpasses could be remedied with some strategic investments/improvements that involve creative lighting, security cameras, new landscaping, a dog park, basketball courts and/or public art. By engaging the community to take ownership of these areas through the development and implementation of overpass improvement projects, a relatively small investment could significantly minimize Caltrans' future maintenance costs. We would like Caltrans to identify funding for such projects and work with local community leaders on appropriate improvements.
   

Members of the North Oakland community have expressed concerns about the conditions of the Caltrans right-of-way as they greatly affect the quality of life in North Oakland by creating safety problems and contributing to an appearance of blight. Crime and blight are inextricably linked. We do not believe that each of you would knowingly tolerate these kinds of ongoing conditions in your communities. While we are unclear why Caltrans can spend billions of dollars in new highway improvements for congestion relief, but cannot seem to maintain its existing highways and structures, we are confident that you will address our concerns because of the potential safety implications to the traveling public.

We request that the specific problems be remedied in a reasonable time frame and look forward to sharing you proposed plan and schedule for resolution with the rest of the community.

Sincerely
Executive Director
We Fight Blight

Infrastructure and Economic Stimulus--Can Oakland Get Its Fair Share?

Apparently, our new Councilwoman, Rebecca Kaplan, has made it known that she intends to lead the charge to ensure that Oakland gets its fair share of federal economic stimulus dollars. We applaud her and find her perspective to be refreshing.

Becks at Living in the O reported that: At Kaplan’s reception yesterday, she told her supporters that her first focus in office is to add to the infrastructure requests that Mayor Dellums drafted to submit to the Obama administration. I got a chance to talk to her in depth about her plan and asked her what her top priorities would be for infrastructure funding. First, she focused on two projects that are entirely ready to go - street paving and implementing the Bicycle Master Plan. Street paving requires no EIR and could be implemented immediately (and I think we all know that parts of Oakland desperately need it). As for the Bicycle Master Plan, the plan itself is great and the EIR is already done - now we just need the funding to complete it.

We Fight Blight reported our dismay that the City of Oakland's request for only $2 million for repaving projects was woefully inadequate given the approximately $27 million dollar annual funding need to maintain our streets through repaving projects. We are extremely happy to see that Councilwoman Kaplan gets it. For those who were concerned about her liberal credentials, early indications are that she is indeed pragmatic and understands the fundamental need for local government to address our crumbling infrastructure.

To begin to understand how woefully inadequate the Mayor's request for $2 million for repaving is, we have to understand how little Oakland has invested in its streets. Currently, there is an approximately $300 million backlog in street repairs, overlays and rehabilitation needs. Through its Pavement Management Plan (PMP), the City has identified an ongoing need of approximately $27 million to keep our streets from further crumbling. The problem is that the City, through various funding sources including Measure B, Department of Transportation, Proposition 42, and the General Fund, gets only $5-7 million per year. That means there is an approximately $20-22 million annual shortfall when it comes to funding our street maintenance.

Unfortunately, our City Council and Mayor have not made it a budget priority to address this underfunding of our streets. Because we are significantly underfunding street repairs on an annual basis of approximately $20-22 million, the approximately $3oo million backlog increases year after year. As well, the longer we wait to repair our ailing streets, the more it costs. Streets that once could get by with an overlay, may require a substantial rehabilitation if maintenance is deferred for too long. Rehabilitation can cost five times more than an overlay. Consequently, the $300 million backlog will grow exponentially larger as we continue to defer maintenance. We are moving in the wrong direction.

As Councilwoman Kaplan noted, paving jobs do not typically require significant CEQA review. Repaving jobs can be made shovel ready in a relatively shorter period of time as compared to constructing new streets or replacing bridges or other transportation infrastructure in environmentally sensitive areas. The challenge, however, is whether the City of Oakland Public Works Department has the capacity to manage a significant number of paving jobs by getting the plans, specifications and estimates ready for bid, putting the projects out to bid and then overseeing the actual construction.

Interestingly, one well positioned insider at City Hall confirmed that the Mayor's team putting together Oakland's Economic Stimulus wish list did not consult with key Public Works staff responsible for managing the City's roadway infrastructure and repaving programs. Perhaps that is why there is such a disconnect between what the Mayor has requested and the City's true needs. As one commenter to this blog pointed out, Santa Ana CA, a City of comparable size to Oakland... listed $122,014,000 for street improvement projects alone. That's right, they listed more for street improvement projects than Oakland did for its entire "ready to go" list. If the Mayor's Office can't even coordinate on something as simple as street repaving, one has to wonder what other major infrastructures needs are left wanting.

In all fairness, however, we have also heard that the Mayor's list does not represent the City's true needs for street improvements because transportation funds will be funneled through the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and provided to cities, counties and transportation authorities using well established formulas. Consequently, what shows up on the Mayor's list for transportation infrastructure is irrelevant.

Even so, it doesn't hurt the City to make well known what its needs are. We have a $300 million backlog and an annual need of $20-22 million. The $2 million noted by the Mayor doesn't even come close. Where is the advocacy? If you can list $2 million, why not put down $300 million. We are in a fight with hundreds of other communities who want a share of the pie. Oakland should not go hungry. We need to be absolutely clear what our needs are. The Obama Administration has signaled that it doesn't want any pork in the stimulus plan. Repaving jobs are fundamental to maintaining our roadway infrastructure--they certainly are not pork and are not a bridge to nowhere. The odds are in our favor. What are we waiting for?

Rebecca, welcome to the fight. Put on your boxing gloves. Oakland needs you. We are desperately hungry for a piece of pie.

While you're at it, can you get us some federal funds to plant more street trees in downtown Oakland to address blight and fight global warming?