A message from Supervisor King:
I remember when the MacArthur Freeway was built, and many residents were forced out of their houses to make way for new highway, including one of my grandmother's elderly friends. She was as upset as anyone by having to move, and died during the construction of the freeway. Her friends would blame her death on the trauma she went through after losing her lifelong home.
Many Oaklanders made similar sacrifices, giving up their homes and businesses for that highway. And now, where would we be without it?
Then, as now, trucks were banned on the new freeway, as they had been along MacArthur Boulevard through East Oakland since 1951, when the street became a state highway. Concerned residents, some of whom were displaced by the construction, made sure the truck ban was continued when the freeway opened in 1962, by pushing through a city ordinance and obtaining the necessary approvals of the state and federal governments.
The sentiments in my district about trucks on 580 haven't changed. Neither has the logic behind the ban on trucks. The MacArthur Freeway was built to serve the residential neighborhoods along its route, not to move cargo. It now serves not only the residents along its route, but it provides motorists in the entire region with an alternative to the frequently intimidating experience of traveling at freeway speeds trapped between big rigs.
Trucks create enough havoc already on the Nimitz Freeway, and other local highways where they are permitted - causing 17 per cent of all accidents. It doesn't make sense to mess up another freeway just because trucks are messing up the others. It's a good plan to have a freeway that facilitates commerce and another one that serves the commuters.
It doesn't take a study to show that, or to show that lifting the ban on trucks on the MacArthur Freeway is a bad idea.
Just say no to trucks on 580!
Supervisor Mary King
Alameda County, District 4
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