Public Comment
City of Berkeley “entrapping” drivers with poorly designed and placed street sweeping signs?
Who hasn’t seen hand-painted signs haphazardly attached to trees in various neighborhoods warning unsuspecting drivers to be careful: today is street sweeping day. Everyone seems to accept that this is a proper and neighborly use of residents’ time. But it’s only because of poor design that this is necessary. Whether it’s intentional – to drive up city revenues through issuing as many tickets as possible, or to cut costs by not installing enough, or big enough, signs – or just negligence through incompetent design, citizens should not have to take over a job that the city is charged with doing.
For instance, on Colusa south of Solano Ave, signs are 10 – 15 car lengths apart (the meter cop said that they are only required at each end of a block), some with text that is only readable on one side (the cop said that only one side is “required” to have text), and several hidden in bushes or trees. How much does the city take in ticket revenue every month because of conditions like this?
