45th St: A safety corridor for schools and commerce

Temescal TemescalTelegraph St Telegraph StEmerson Elementary Emerson ElementaryOakland International Oakland InternationalHigh School High School10Y 10YPriority Area Priority AreaSanta Fe Santa FeLongfellow Longfellow 40th 40th 42nd 42nd 45th 45th 52nd 52ndClaremont Middle School Claremont Middle SchoolOakland Technical High School Oakland Technical High School

The neighborhoods of Longfellow and Santa Fe are home to 11,000 residents of the city of Oakland.

Since the late 1960s the neighborhood has been split by highway 24.

There are 1200 school age children in Longfellow and Santa Fe and 0 schools.

The closest elementary school, Emerson, is in Temescal, as are Oakland International High School and Oakland Tech and preK.

The closest middle school, Claremont Middle School, is in Rockridge, a 10 minute bike ride from Longfellow, but requires crossing Highway 24 twice.

This is despite the fact that Longfellow and Santa Fe contain an OUSD priority area.

To get to school, children west of 24 have to cross the highway.

There are 4 routes to cross 24: 40th, 42nd, 45th, 52nd

From the priority area crossing by 40th adds 10 minutes to the walk, involving crossing a high injury zone intersection twice.

Because of the MacArthur BART station, the main underpass is extra wide and poorly lit.

Crossing the covered underpass is a 2 minute walk...

A safety program was announced in 2020, but there have been no updates since 2021 and not response to emails.

52nd crosses UCSF Children’s Hospital and is the cleanest underpass.

However, it is also the longest, spanning 1/10th of a mile

and involves crossing a busy freeway offramp.

The most direct options, 42nd and 45th, are home to homeless encampments. And both have one side completely blocked.

To get to school, children must cross the following:

Obstacles:

Needles:

Trash with biohazards:

Children really do walk to school past trash, needles, biohazards, and people living in tents.

this is urine this is urine from a camper from a camper

Additionally, Temescal remains the closest commercial district for Longfellow and Santa Fe with a shopping corridor on Telegraph St

The 45th underpass is ideal to focus on as a safe passageway for a number of reasons:

  1. It is the most direct route. All schools (Emerson, Oakland Tech, and Oakland International) are accessed via 45th.
  2. The encampment under 45th is a manageable size: currently only 6-8 campers
  3. There is significant engagement from the community to keep this underpass safe and passable. The Longfellow Neighborhood Association cleans every Friday morning.
  4. There has been a successful effort by the city and community to clear 45th from Telegraph to Broadway, so there is already a safe passageway to the schools if the 45th underpass is cleared.