Oakland Lake Merritt Still Gets Crowded On The Weekend, Even As City Pleads “Give The Lake A Break”
ONN – Oakland Lake Merritt Still Gets Crowded On The Weekend, Even As City Pleads “Give The Lake A Break”
The video blog of the photo above was from Instagram and posted yesterday, Saturday July 11th 2020. Just the day before, the City of Oakland issued this press release:
News from: City of Oakland
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 10, 2020
City of Oakland Encourages Public to “Give the Lake a Break!”
Weekend traffic safety measures and parking restrictions aim to reduce crowding, spread of COVID-19, and traffic hazards, while ensuring emergency access
Oakland, CA – Lake Merritt is Oakland’s crown jewel, a place of extraordinary beauty where everyone feels at home. It’s a refuge for people and wildlife alike. And lately, it has become very crowded. It’s time to give the Lake a break!
We are still in the early months of a global pandemic, and COVID-19 cases are spiking across California and the country; in Alameda County, COVID-related hospitalizations are on the rise.
The City of Oakland is reminding residents that: if you need to get outdoors for fresh air and exercise, which is important for our physical and mental health, check out Oakland Slow Streets for good options in neighborhoods throughout the city. Or visit a nearby park. But please, find another alternative to Lake Merritt.
On weekends, crowded conditions at Lake Merritt have become unsafe in two ways: 1) overcrowding could accelerate the spread of COVID-19, 2) traffic and parking congestion have become hazardous, and have prevented emergency access and response.
With the need to provide more opportunity for physical distancing as people flock to Lake Merritt for exercise and recreation, coupled with significant traffic and parking congestion that has developed as a result of the Lake’s summertime popularity, on weekends the City will be implementing additional measures to improve traffic safety and expand opportunities for physical distancing.
Traffic Management, Parking, and Closures
On Saturday and Sunday, beginning at 7:30am and continuing until 11pm:
Lakeshore Avenue
Closed in the southbound direction from MacArthur to Hanover.
Center lane closed.
Northbound will remain open.
No parking will be permitted on the southbound side.
Lakeshore Avenue cul-de-sac—access will be restricted to residents living on the cul-de-sac or people accessing the church.
El Embarcadero—closed in both directions
Lakeview Library parking lot—closed.
Bellevue Avenue –no parking will be permitted on the Lake side of from Perkins to Grand.
Parking restrictions will be enforced on both Saturday and Sunday—no parking on the Lake side of any street abutting Lake Merritt will be allowed, including Lakeside Drive, Grand Avenue, and 12th Street.
These closures and restrictions will improve traffic safety and allow for greater access for bicyclists and pedestrians around this narrow section of Lake Merritt. They will also allow for emergency vehicle access when needed.
Community Engagement
Park Ambassadors, firefighters, and municipal code enforcement officers will be present on both days to engage with the community and remind them of the importance of wearing face coverings and staying six feet apart.
Together we can stay healthy and beat COVID-19.
Obviously, the message was not received.
Stay tuned.
Note from Zennie62Media and Oakland News Now: this video-blog post demonstrates the full and live operation of the latest updated version of an experimental Zennie62Media , Inc. mobile media video-blogging system network that was launched June 2018. This is a major part of Zennie62Media , Inc.’s new and innovative approach to the production of news media. What we call “The Third Wave of Media”. The uploaded video is from a vlogger with the Zennie62 on YouTube Partner Channel, then uploaded to and formatted automatically at the Oakland News Now site and Zennie62-created and owned social media pages. The overall objective is smartphone-enabled, real-time, on the scene reporting of news, interviews, observations, and happenings anywhere in the World and within seconds and not hours. Now, news is reported with a smartphone: no heavy and expensive cameras or even a laptop are necessary. The secondary objective is faster, and very inexpensive media content news production and distribution. We have found there is a disconnect between post length and time to product and revenue generated. With this, the problem is far less, though by no means solved. Zennie62Media is constantly working to improve the system network coding and seeks interested content and media technology partners.