It’s a sight that has motorists doing a double-take: a stop sign hanging above where a traffic light would normally be, located above the intersection of E. 12th Street and 16th Avenue in Oakland.
Neighbors said city workers removed all traffic signals last week and replaced them with four-way stop signs. The installation came after months of people stealing copper wires and tampering with the city’s electrical boxes that power traffic lights.
“It just tells us that the city is failing us,” said Tam Le, owner of Le’s Auto Body & Engine Repair, located on the corner of the intersection.
Neighbors said the lights that were there previously had not been working for months, were flashing red or were completely off.
“This is a brand new solution to a problem that has taken many forms here,” said neighbor Mason Young.
Young said the stop signs are better than non-working traffic lights, which he blamed for an accident in which a truck crashed into the fence of Le’s repair shop last year.
“The city has tried to fix the traffic light at least a few times. But once they fix it, usually within a week, it goes out again,” Le said.
Le has been operating his corner store for over 25 years. He and his neighbors blame the problem on repeated copper thefts. They also alleged that homeless people in the area are stealing power from city electrical boxes located on the sidewalks.
A city spokesperson said they tried to place heavy cement blocks on the boxes, but people simply dragged them aside.
“If you really want to fix the stop sign, I think you really need to clean up this homeless camp,” Le said.
The encampment extends for about three blocks on E. 12th Street, between 17th and 14th Avenues. The city has made previous attempts to clear it, but it is getting bigger and bigger.
“A lot of businesses on E. 12th St. are already closed. And I don’t know how long we’re going to be here. Because as soon as they move to our side of the sidewalk, we’re gone,” Le said.
The city said the stop signs are temporary, but they currently do not have a timeline for when they will be able to put the traffic lights back in place.
Da Lin
