Oakland city leaders have announced several locations throughout the city that will see lowered speed limits in an effort to create safer streets, according to City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

The move comes in response to Assembly Bill 43, which is a new state law that enables cities to lower speed limits in high traffic areas.

“It is a well-established fact that by lowering speed limits, the number of traffic fatalities are correspondingly lowered,” said Kaplan in a statement released by the city.

The initiative was announced by Mayor Sheng Thao, Oakland Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas, Councilmember Noel Gallo, Councilmember Janani Ramachandran, the Oakland Department of Transportation director Fred Kelley and other city leaders.

Ramachandran said lowering speed limits is a way to begin to change driver culture.

“I look forward to expanding this effort to every corner of the city,” she said.

According to the city, one in every four traffic fatalities in Oakland involve unsafe speeds.

Oakland carried out an analysis of more than 50 corridors that are eligible for 20 or 25 mph speed limits. So far, the city has identified 11 locations:

• MacArthur Boulevard (89th and 90th avenues)

• San Pablo Avenue (William Street to South 16th Street)

• Fruitvale Avenue (E. 22nd to E. 19th streets)

• 11th Street (Broadway to Harrison Street)

• 12th Street (Broadway to Alice Street)

• Fruitvale Avenue (E. 15th to E. 10th streets)

• Fruitvale Avenue (Lynde Street to Blossom Street)

• Foothill Boulevard (Rutherford to High streets)

• Foothill Boulevard (Congress Avenue to Cole Street)

• 23rd Avenue (Foothill to International boulevards)

• 14th Street (Broadway to Oak Street)

Signage indicating the new speeds in each designated location will hopefully be up by the end of 2025, a spokesperson for the city said.

Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.