Rally To Ban Cars Off Telegraph!
Rally To Ban Cars Off Telegraph!
On Saturday, March 12th you can strike a blow against emissions and have fun while doing it!
The day has finally arrived.
Organizers from UC Berkeley and residents from around the city have called to fully remove private automobiles from Telegraph Avenue between Bancroft and Dwight Streets. This would create the first true, car-free street in the East Bay and turn a crowded sidewalk with noisy cars and vehicle exhaust into an open space full of walking, leisure, cycling and people.
Car-free Telegraph is not a new idea. During the counterculture days of the early 70s a lot of free spirit people had proposed removing cars off Telegraph. But cars were king and every attempt was killed and shelved.
Today, the problem has only gotten worse. The vast majority of Berkeley’s carbon emissions come from transportation, primarily automobiles. Just this week a new study finds that marginalized and non-white communities in Berkeley and Oakland bear the brunt of toxic pollution from cars. We’ve had enough and have decided to pedestrianize Telegraph with an implicit endorsement from the City Council.
The famous Sather Gate was once an automobile throughway and today is a thriving pedestrian plaza. People’s Park was once a muddy parking lot, and young people like my grandfather rallied to turn it into a park. Ohlone Park was once a strip of bulldozed land and now its one of the most popular parks in Berkeley.
Decades later, in San Francisco activists have successfully shut down a highway and are expanding car-free streets to Golden Gate Park. Oakland pioneered a Slow Streets program where neighborhood streets became places to gather and not just drive through.
It’s Berkeley’s turn and we’ll make it the most ambitious: Telegraph for People.
I wrote that if we wanted to expand our green space, reduce our air pollution, fix our public transit and make safe routes to bike on, then we needed to do it ourselves, not wait years for process. The city council has officially endorsed the idea, but we’ll spend years on this unless we show that the demand is there and our climate doesn’t have time to wait.
Students have led the charge and mobilized an army of families, neighbors, even UC student government and ordinary people to turn the street into a car-free zone. It’ll be a marvel for generations to come. Everyone of all ages, occupations, disabilities, housing and backgrounds will join together at a giant, sunny Telegraph Avenue with clear air, grassy streets, and peaceful chatter.
Please come to Telegraph and Bancroft this Saturday on March 12th at 12 PM. Open to everyone from all over the Bay Area.
Bring your children, your parents and your friends.A happy crowd will gather at Sproul Plaza before peacefully taking their rightful place on Telegraph Avenue after decades of waiting. The street will be closed to cars and a block party of festive activities, dancing, chess games, dining and speeches will commence.
Be part of history.
The first of many Streets for People to come.
Don’t miss it.
Telegraph for the People.
Saturday at 12. UC Berkeley. Details here.
“Old people sitting with young people. That’s how we’ll save our city.” - Jesse Shedhan, organizer of the Telegraph chess club.
Closing Telegraph from Dwight to Bancroft has the smallest impact on “drivers.” Driving up Telegraph, particularly on this blocks is painful. The blocks are very short. You can easily take a parallel route and make your way to that area. Many more people benefit closing some frankly terrible blocks to drive on.