City and Port of Oakland work with residents on truck management issues

Large transport trucks are a common sight on the streets of West Oakland and the I-880 freeway, especially in the Port of Oakland area. Motorists traveling through Oakland might not give much thought about problems related to such trucks, but residents of West Oakland live with the problems and have been sharing their thoughts as part of a major public planning process.

Since last year, the City of Oakland and the Port of Oakland have been preparing a truck management plan to reduce problems with truck traffic and truck parking in West Oakland. When the City Council and the Board of Port Commissioners approved reuse of the former Oakland Army Base (OAB), they required that a truck management plan be prepared that reduces the effect of trucks on local streets.

When new buildings started construction at the former OAB, the City and Port began the process with the community to develop the West Oakland Truck Management Plan. From the beginning of the planning process in 2017, the City of Oakland and the Port of Oakland have encouraged residents, businesses and truck drivers to help develop the plan. A series of community meetings have been hosted to engage community members and enable their input to the plan.

At the first community workshop meeting held last year, local residents shared their thoughts on numerous problems with truck circulation and truck parking in West Oakland, including:

• Trucks are parking where they are bothersome
• Some trucks are driving on prohibited streets and on other streets that are not truck routes
• Poor signage for truck routes and for prohibited streets
• Lack of enforcement for parking and driving violations

In response to the problems communicated by residents and business owners, the City summarized several planning goals:

• We want trucks to be less disruptive to residents and businesses in West Oakland.
• We want truck drivers to know where they can and cannot drive, and park.
• We want it to be safer near the truck routes.

Additional community workshops included a presentation of analysis and data to evaluate the issues:

• Analysis of where trucks drive and park in the West Oakland area
• Traffic-calming solutions to ensure trucks stay on designated truck routes
• Better signs so that truck routes and non-truck routes are clearly seen
• Outreach and better communication with truck drivers about where they can and cannot drive in West Oakland
• Improvements at the Port so that trucks waiting to deliver or pick up do not wait in line nor create backups on to city streets
• Enforcement to prevent trucks from parking in residential zones

The fourth community workshop was held this past July, at which members of the public provided their input on prioritizing the various solutions of the plan.

As the planning team begins to finalize the plan, a fifth community workshop has been scheduled for Thursday, November 29th. The draft plan will be presented at Workshop #5. The public can come discuss it and ask any questions. Workshop #5 will be an opportunity for everyone to see how the plan comes together and discuss its implementation, prior to it being refined into the final plan, which will go to the City Administrator and Port Engineer for approval.

In the two weeks prior to the November 29th workshop, the draft plan will be available for review and comment. Also, an online community survey is now available. When you finish reading, please take a moment to complete the survey. Links to the community survey:

English:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CPG2SB2

Spanish: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RDXZ7GF

More information about the plan and the November 29th workshop can be found at https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/west-oakland-truck-management-plan