Oakland to install traffic barricades intended to discourage East Oakland sex trafficking

Oakland’s City Council voted Tuesday to begin a pilot program to disrupt sex work in a section of East Oakland known as “The Blade.”

In a 6-1-1 vote, with Councilmember Kevin Jenkins abstaining and Councilmember Janani Ramachandran absent for the vote, the pilot program proposed by Councilmember Charlene Wang will install barricades to temporarily close through traffic on Ninth, 10th and 11th avenues between International Boulevard and 15th Street for six months in an effort to curb sex trafficking on these side streets and funnel it onto International Boulevard.