Leona Heights Neighborhood News

by Gordon Laverty

On New Year's weekend the squealing of brakes and tires, followed by the thumping, bumping, and grinding screech of metal sliding on pavement, announced another accident on the 580-west on-ramp at Rusting Street. This time someone's SUV had rolled over and was sliding along on its roof. Enter the police, two ambulances, a fire truck, and our running neighbors to see if they could help. And this time add in a rear-ender on the ramp, since two other folks had also come too fast down Mountain Boulevard and added to the problem. What will it take to have the city attend to our local citizen dangers at this intersection? We clearly need pavement roughening to slow down Mountain Boulevard speeders for their own sake and ours. Since 2001 I have written four letters to city traffic staff, sometimes with copies to Caltrans, underlining the danger to those of us trying to get onto the freeway or out onto Mountain Boulevard. Caltrans has added signs and arrows to their ramp. But all the city traffic unit has done is install a 35 MPH sign on Mountain, which only ensures that ramp speeds regularly approach 45 to 60 mph. Add this to a tree-obscured line of sight toward Seminary Avenue from which vehicles appear. Worse, for the past six months or so, drivers leaving Highway 13 southbound take off at the Calaveras off-ramp to shortcut around traffic backup at the 13/580-east merge. This makes the section of Mountain Boulevard between Calaveras and Seminary a racetrack, and in these winter months of early dusk, with the on-ramp retaining-wall obscurity, a much worse situation at the Rusting stop sign occurs for us and our families. We need another stop sign opposite the present Rusting sign to protect us. For other ingress/egress problems in our neighborhood, the residents should write to The Chief, Oakland Traffic Division, Public Works Agency, 250 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Fourth Floor, Oakland CA 94612. We acknowledge with thanks the beginning of pothole repairs on Leona Street. We hope that, as crews have extra cutback, they will continue this helpful work on Mountain Boulevard and nearby roads that need similar treatment in the Leona Heights area.