Durant Avenue Task Force Ask Residents to Participate in Campaign to Reduce Speeding, Large Trucks

The Durant Avenue Task Force will be holding their first “Critical Mass” on Friday from 4 to 7 p.m.

Residents are being asked to intentionally park their cars in front of the residential curbs along Durant Avenue every last Friday of the month.

Many residents have been hesitant about parking their cars along the curb “due to the fact that many cars go on speeding by along with large trucks knocking off mirrors and side-swiping cars.” 

This proposal is to emphasize to large commercial trucks how narrow of a residential street Durant Avenue is. As well as to remind drivers to slow down as they drive down Durant Avenue for the safety of pedestrians and the residents’ properties. 

“We have had high-speed chases on this narrow street that end up knocking down our fences and rip up our lawns, “ said Gus Roldan from the Durant Avenue Task Force. 

The Durant Avenue Task Force is asking the City of San Leandro for a “No Large Trucks” sign and Traffic Calming Solutions. Two Traffic Calming Solutions for Durant Avenue include a chicane and raised crosswalks, according to the Durant Avenue Task Force Facebook page. 

• Chicane (see pictures above): two or three section curb bump that forces motorists to maneuver through a narrow, single or two lane angled roadway section at a midblock location 

• Raised Crosswalk (see pictures above): similar to a speed hump, except these are installed at intersections to elevate crosswalks

In October 2013, the task force wrote a letter to City officials and the San Leandro Engineering and Transportation Department. To view the letter, which is featured in The Broadmoor Beacon, click here.

“We hope that our concerns are not just simply ignored because of the lack of willingness by other neighbors or city officials that has been evident in the past, and that now is the time to make a stand for our city,” said Roldan in the letter.

The Durant Task Force has composed YouTube videos with different video clips of speeding vehicles and large commercial trucks traveling on Durant Avenue. 

WATCH: Large Commercial Trucks

WATCH: Speeding Vehicles

The Durant Avenue Task Force hopes to improve the quality of life for residents of the Durant Avenue corridor of the cities of San Leandro and Oakland. For more information, please visit the Durant Avenue Task Force Facebook page.