We have been waiting to see what level of springtime freeway/highway management would take place here in Oakland again this year, having seen yet another year’s weeds grow over last year’s uncut weeds, in many cases.  It is indeed frustrating to drive through the much better maintained areas of Moraga, Orinda, Walnut Creek, Marin, and question why there are crews out there cutting weeds and brush on areas that have already been cut earlier this year, when ours have not been touched in years.* We are tired of this resource allocation inequity, and request respectfully that an action plan be implemented to clear the weed and brush buildup of many years along Oakland’s freeways, as is Caltrans’ duty to us, the taxpayers, with a published project schedule. We would like to see, as follows: Weed removal from:

• ·         freeway/highway edges,
• ·         median peninsulas,
• ·         on-ramps, off-ramps         ,
• ·         along soundwalls,
• ·         between freeway transitions,
• ·         graded areas,
• ·         as well as any other unsightly or unkempt areas

Please also remove accumulations of broken glass, gravel, plastic, and debris that fail, despite both man and/or machine in this 21st century, to get picked up by road crews. We would also like to see that regular surveys of the roads are taken so that dumped or accumulated trash does not sit for months at a time on Caltrans property.

On and off-ramp maintenance are the responsibility of Caltrans, so please establish regularly scheduled crews to maintain these areas. Also, please manage the bushes and trees so that they are fire-safe and sightly in appearance, and plant vegetation where and when it is required or requested. Please never forget what was lost to the residents of Oakland and Berkeley in the firestorm of 1991.

In short, please keep Oakland's freeway systems, on-ramps, and off-ramps, at the very least, to the standards of the best cities that you maintain, and again, we request that an action plan be immediately implemented, and a project schedule published in response to this petition, to the sponsor, for dissemination to the public.

Thank you,

The undersigned residents of Oakland

*Petition sponsor is available for drive-along with the assigned project manager to provide examples if required.    

 

For Delivery to: Mr Bijan Sartipi, Caltrans District 4 Director