A portion of this Oak Park street soon will be closed permanently to motor vehicles to make it more ‘people oriented’ 

A portion of 2^nd Avenue between 34^th Street and Broadway in Oak Park soon will be permanently closed to motor vehicle traffic.

The closure will make the section of the roadway more people oriented and address community safety concerns, said City Transportation Planner Leslie Mancebo. People walking and riding bikes still will be allowed through the area.

“Through conversations with the community and data analysis, it became apparent that a disproportionate number of collisions happen at the intersection of 34^th Street and 2nd Avenue,” Mancebo said. “This closure will help to address that issue.”

The project is part of the ‘”Envision Broadway in Oak Park Plan,” which outlines a vision for future mobility along the Broadway corridor from Franklin Boulevard to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Mancebo said.

Construction of the permanent closure will begin on Aug. 9 and last approximately one week. During that time, construction detour signs will direct traffic. Once construction is complete, motor vehicles will no longer be allowed to drive on 2^nd Avenue between 34^th Street and Broadway.

In fall 2019, the City set up a temporary demonstration of the 2nd Avenue closure to gather community feedback and test a conceptual design intended to reduce crashes while maintaining through travel by people riding bikes.

“Feedback revealed that much of the community feels more comfortable traveling through the area with this portion of 2nd Avenue closed to motor vehicles,” Mancebo said.

The Envision Broadway in Oak Park Plan was approved by City Council in March 2020. The City was recently awarded funding for the next phase and will begin initial design and environmental review in the next year.

“In the meantime, we will move forward with this small portion of the project to improve safety and mobility right away,” Mancebo said. “After hearing the strong community concern about the crashes, we fast-tracked this element of the plan.”

This segment of 2nd Avenue in Oak Park was identified as part of the City’s “high injury network” by the City’s Vision Zero plan, which looks to eliminate all traffic fatalities and serious injuries in Sacramento by 2027.