High Street in East Oakland is a busy street that connects Laurel District, Maxwell Park, and Allendale to International and Foothill Boulevards. Over the past 5 years, there has averaged a crash every eight days on High Street. Thousands of students attend Fremont High School and other nearby schools located at the intersection of Foothill Blvd. and High Street. Improvements for pedestrians are on the way, and bike lanes are being considered as previously identified in the bike plan. Do you, your family or friends use High Street or attend nearby schools? Take the survey and spread the word.

Photo: City of Oakland

High Street in East Oakland is a busy street that connects Laurel District, Maxwell Park, and Allendale to International and Foothill Boulevards. Over the past 5 years, there has averaged a crash every eight days on High Street. Thousands of students attend Fremont High School and other nearby schools located at the intersection of Foothill Blvd. and High Street. Improvements for pedestrians are on the way, and bike lanes are being considered as previously identified in the bike plan. Do you, your family or friends use High Street or attend nearby schools? Take the survey and spread the word.

In the last five years there were 225 vehicle collisions on High Street between Foothill Boulevard and Tomkins Avenue. 37 of those involved a pedestrian crossing the street, and speeding is the primary cause of collisions on High Street. Over the next year and a half flashing pedestrian beacons and repaving will be coming on the ground, but OakDOT knows they have to do more to keep you safe and try and create a livable street for High Street residents. 

Repaving currently slated for later this year or early next offers a rare opportunity to reimagine this roadway to better respond to the needs of people walking, biking, and taking transit while maintaining the same access and space for people driving. The city is considering bike lanes as identified in Oakland’s award-winning bicycle plan, nationally recognized for the community outreach the city did in Black and Brown neighborhoods such as Fruitvale and East Oakland. If bike lanes come on the ground, we’d like to see them upgraded from buffered to protected where possible to discourage cars parking in the lane. High Street is a critical corridor that could help create an actual connected network of bikeways in the otherwise sparse biking network.

If you or your family and friends use High Street or know students who attend Fremont High School or other nearby schools, spread the word and let the city know what safety improvements you would like to see. Take the High Street survey today.