Oakland removes DIY speed bumps residents put in to stop sideshows

CBS News

29-05-2025

Residents of Oakland's Highland Terrace neighborhood say their safety is at risk again after the city removed their makeshift speedbumps last week.
People living near East 21st Street and 19th Avenue installed the speedbumps because they said they were fed-up with years of sideshows.
Michael Andemeskel said neighbors filed reports, created petitions, and contacted city leaders, but nothing was done.
"When the city fails to act, we act," said Andemeskel.
Andemeskel says it impacted everyone, people feared for their safety and needed to stay inside, but even then, they couldn't escape the smoke and the noise.
"It's a terrible experience and the next day you're just not the same," said Andemeskel. "Kids can't go to school, you can't do work."
Andemeskel spearheaded the effort, gathering money from neighbors and as a group installing dozens of speedbumps at several intersections.
Another neighbor, who did not want to disclose his name, says it worked.
"It was sort of our neighborhood watch that everybody chipped in, and they implemented it," the man explained. "It was safe for awhile until just last week it was removed and then the same day they came at night."
At the intersection of East 21st Street and 19th Avenue, you can still see where the speedbumps once were.
Neighbors say if the city won't put them back, they're going to do it themselves and they're not worried about the repercussions.
"No one's afraid of what the city is going to do and if they're going to rip them out, we'll put them in again," said Andemeskel. "We can do it all day."
Director of Transportation Josh Rowan says about a month ago, he was riding a bus when he was jostled by the speed bumps, that's when he realized he needed to take a look at them.
"After reviewing the operations with my engineering team, we decided it was too much risk to the public to leave them there," explained Rowan. "We were actually observing cars swerving out of the travel lane to avoid these bumps that had been installed."
Rowan says they are working on a safety project that will bring more funding to that area of town, but it won't start until 2027.
In the meantime, they're working on a short-term solution of paint and posts to help. OakDOT has seen this solution have some success at the intersection of Redwood Road and Skyline Boulevard.
"We want to work with them," said Rowan. "We want to get solutions that are solving these problems but they keep getting out in front of us, and that's not helping us or them."
Andemeskel argues it's just a matter of time until someone gets hurt or killed and the city needs to act quickly.
"We demand that they come up with a plan to deal with the sideshow issue by June 6th and they implement whatever the solution in a reasonable timeframe, four weeks or six weeks," detailed Andemeskel. "If not we'll just put them back."