Oakland is keeping its COVID-19 related traffic restrictions in place indefinitely.
A pandemic-related effort to encourage people to get outdoors, slow streets involved closing over 20 miles of city roads to most traffic so residents could walk, jog and bike around safely.
Originally, Oakland intended to close 74 miles of city streets, but transportation officials scaled that back to just 21 miles after getting feedback from residents.
"Streets are for people, not cars, and cars must slow down so we can reduce the unacceptable rates of accidents that have harmed and even killed so many Oaklanders," said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.
The "Closed to Through Traffic" signs will stay posted up, said Schaaf.
Other cities across the Bay Area and the country have rolled out their own version of slow streets. City transportation officials say the movement could permanently change how we think about urban design.
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