Should the ban on heavy trucks on Highway 580 be abolished?

 

Update: The results of the poll were 84% No; 10% Yes and 6% Uncertain.

When Highway 580 was constructed in the early 1960s, CalTrans and the Federal Highway Administration approved a prohibition on vehicles exceeding 4.5 tons, except for passenger vehicles, on the highway from Grand Avenue in Oakland through San Leandro.

I have created a poll on the question of whether the ban should be abolished. You can find the poll on Next Door. Please share your opinion.

According to CalTrans, this action was taken “because there was a pre-existing truck prohibition in this corridor before the freeway was built. Secondary issues included a four percent grade which would add to congestion and noise.” Since the 1950s, truck traffic had been prohibited on MacArthur Blvd. by the City of Oakland. In 1999, then Assemblymember Ellen Corbett introduced Assembly Bill 500, co-sponsored by other East Bay members of the Assembly and State Senate, that added the Highway 580 truck ban into the California Vehicle Code. The bill was signed into law. Today, there is a drive by some local elected officials to overturn the ban due to the harmful impact of air pollution on residents of Downtown and West Oakland. In a July 2021 KQED article, Oakland City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan called the ban "a troubling example of environmental racism" and said the state law should be repealed. In San Leandro, Councilmember Fred Simon supports lifting the ban, stating in the samed KQED article that he was reaching out to local elected leaders and agencies "to build a coalition to overturn the 580 truck ban through state legislative efforts." On month earlier, on June 28, 2021, Councilmember Simon made a motion for the City Council to direct City library staff to research the history of the I-580 truck ban and bring back to Council for discussion.” Councilmember Simon said he opposed the ban and wanted to know its history. San Leandro Citycouncilmembers Bryan Azevedo, Corina Lopez and Victor Aguilar supported the motion. Mayor Pauline Cutter and Councilmembers Deborah Cox and Pete Ballew voted “no.” I have copied and pasted a portion of the research conducted by the City library staff below. The matter has not returned to the San Leandro City Council for further discussion. Fast forward to the present, Alameda Supervisor Nate Miley is hosting an online townhall on Thursday, December 16, 2021, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The public is invited to listen to the speakers and, hopefully, amble time will be provided by Supervisor Miley for public comments and questions.

RSVP here to attend the online townhall. I encourage everyone interested in question of abolishing the ban on heavy truck on Highway 580 to participate in the townhall and voice your opinion. You do not have to be resident of Supervisor Milely's district to attend and comment at the townhall. Prior to the townhall, I will send an email message to Supervisor Miley, the San Leandro City Council and other elected leaders informing them of the results of this poll. Supervisor Miley has spoken in favor of repealing the truck ban, although more recently he reportedly has stated that he is undecided. I am unaware of the position, if any, of Dave Brown, the newly appointed Supervisor who represents San Leandro. Likewise, I am unaware of any position taken on the matter by our East Bay state representatives. ------- Here are the summary of findings from the research conducted by San Leandro library staff on the Highway 580 truck ban: Cal Trans provides a succinct history of the truck ban tracing it back to a 1951 truck ban on MacArthur Boulevard that was then “grandfathered” into the parallel section of I-580. The ban has been in affect in that portion of the freeway since it’s opening in the early 1960’s. The ban has been reviewed various times over the decades and was made permanent in 2000. It was difficult to find primary sources stating the original reasons for the 1951 truck ban on MacArthur. An East Bay Times column states, “Trucks were not allowed on MacArthur to save the pavement from wear and tear and the residents from noise and pollution.” Additionally, historian, Robert Self, in this KQED article says, "MacArthur Boulevard was what you might call the heart of middle class white Oakland in those years," Self said. "It was a neighborhood whose opinions about the world had the ear of city hall." According to these sources, the source of the ban was a combination of concerns regarding the noise and wear that truck traffic brings, along with the power dynamics of the outspoken white, middle-class demographic of the area. The previously mentioned KQED article provides insight into the ban’s staying power. The article states that, in response to a 1967 review of the ban, organized community members, “argued the area around the highway was far more residential, had more schools and hospitals, and that the road itself was curvier and hillier than 880.” Similarly, when a study of the impact of the ban was proposed in 1999, residents along 580 pressured local representatives to prevent the study from happening. With support from the Oakland and San Leandro city councils and the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, the ban was made permanent in response to local concern about noise, pollution and road safety (SF Gate, 2000).