Streetsblog reader “Melanie C from Berkeley” sent along the above picture of some snarky new traffic signage that showed up at Alcatraz and King St. in Berkeley that we assume was not placed by the city.
“CROSS TRAFFIC DOES NOT STOP,” the sign warns. This is useful information for bike riders making their way along King St., one of the city’s Bicycle Boulevards and a major cross-town route for riders moving between Oakland and Berkeley. A sign like this should have been installed by the city.
But it doesn’t look like a city job. The sign continues, in a smaller font: “Pretty unsafe for a bikeway, yeah? Someone make a petition or something.”
Well, okay. About what, though? Both the city’s bike plan and its pedestrian plan acknowledge that this active crossing can be a problem for bike riders and pedestrians. A quick google review of traffic crashes in the area show a couple of recent ones along Alcatraz nearby. In January, a 66-year-old female pedestrian died after being struck by a red Chevrolet Bolt on Alcatraz while turning onto Ada Street. In August 2024, a male hit-and-run driver hit a child in a stroller at the intersection of Alcatraz and Dover Street before fleeing the scene. The child sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
The city did make some improvements: a few years ago, the crosswalk was repainted and flashing beacons were added. (But Curry - erm…I mean Melanie C - points out that in the photo one can clearly see that bike riders can’t reach the beg button to activate the flashing beacon.)
Other proposed improvements include the addition of a median refuge and a hardened center line as well as an upgraded bike lane on Alcatraz. But that’s just on paper at this point. And there are no plans to make this a four-way stop. Would that be the subject of the petition this sign maker wants someone else to make?
Melanie comments, “Are there more of these signs? I haven’t noticed any, but there are other two-way stops along the bikeways.” If you see more of these signs, or any guerilla traffic safety signage, send them along to damien@streetsblog.org.
We suspect the signs won’t stay up - they are too clearly NOT official - even though they provide an important warning for bike riders.
It just strikes us as strange that someone went to all the trouble of printing and installing them, and then seems willing to wait for someone else to “make a petition or something.”
In case it wasn't clear, Melanie Curry contributed A LOT to this story.
