A California city removed the traffic lights from a four-way intersection as the city grapples with thefts attributed to a massive homeless encampment nearby.
Oakland has been experiencing high crime and theft, including people stealing copper wires and the city’s infrastructure, according to locals who spoke to CBS News. The city attempted to thwart criminals tampering with its electrical boxes by placing cement barriers over them – to no avail. Now, the city has taken to removing the traffic lights at a busy intersection and replacing them with stop signs.
“It’s just telling us that the city is giving up on us,” said Tam Le, owner of Le’s Auto Body & Engine Repair, nearby the intersection, told CBS News. “If you really want to fix the stop sign, I think you really have to clean up this homeless encampment.”
The lights had been working on and off for months due to criminals tampering with the electricity and stealing the wires, the report said. One local, Mason Young, said it was becoming extremely dangerous to drive through the intersection, and noted an accident that recently occurred there.
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Author: Marty Kaufmann
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