Oakland Paves Way for Open Streets Everywhere

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Oakland now has eight street sections closed to through traffic as part of its ‘slow streets’ program to give people who are sheltering in place enough room to get out and exercise safely during the COVID-19 lockdown. As seen in the lead picture, residents on Brookdale, one of the streets, juiced up the city’s efforts after some motorists ignored the official signs. Bike East Bay’s Dave Campbell and local resident ‘Katie’ tweeted about it below.

And back in the West Bay…

San Francisco has closed the Great Highway to motorized traffic, as seen in this picture taken over the weekend by Walk San Francisco’s Marta Lindsey:

It has also closed Twin Peaks Boulevard to cars. And, as the San Francisco Chronicle reported earlier this month, residents on Tiffany Street in the Mission have taken their street back independently of any city mandate.

However, the city spurned attempts to close JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park to motor traffic. And when it comes to neighborhood streets, Oakland is still putting San Francisco to shame. “We continue to push for the creation of more car-free spaces so there’s adequate room to walk with social distancing,” wrote Walk San Francisco’s Jodie Medeiros, in an email to Streetsblog. “Our top priority is in the Tenderloin and Chinatown, where sidewalk space is urgently needed for people to safely access essential needs.”

Streetsblog checked in with Mayor London Breed’s office to see if anything is in the works for local, neighborhood streets. For now, the Mayor’s transportation adviser, Paul Supawanich, would only confirm that the idea of following Oakland’s lead “is being discussed.”