With the amount of neglect Caltrans subjects the city of Oakland's freeways and on-ramps to, it's a wonder that citizens don't drive around town with machetes in order to get past the overgrown weeds and foliage. I've always found it mindboggling how Caltrans is allowed to blatantly leave Oakland's highways covered in weeds and detritus. Drive through places like Pleasanton, San Mateo, and Walnut Creek, and the difference in care is blinding, with pristine landscaping, clean shoulders, and graffiti-free signs. Here in Oakland, it's all too common to see weeds and brush approaching seven or eight feet in height, with clusters of trash and waste covering the ground.
I can understand why some might try and cut Caltrans slack in this situation. Budget restraints, the sheer volume of highways around the state, and the fact that there are people in Oakland very actively vandalizing and littering certainly can't be ignored. Regardless, none of those reasons excuse years worth of neglect. You can almost take your pick of any part of town where Caltrans hasn't bothered to come out and remove trash, graffiti, or even bothered to pass a weed whacker. Other cities have blight removed in a fraction of the time it takes for Oakland to see any action and it's sickening.
Why someone like our mayor doesn't raise this issue with the state is beyond me. If I were in Jean Quan's position, I'd be all over Caltrans asking why our stretch of freeways and on ramps continue to be ignored month after month, year after year. (Heck, give the CHP a call, too, and ask how they aren't spotting morons with house paint sprayers on the freeways in the middle of the night). While the city certainly has it's own issues with shoddy landscaping maintenance on the part of it's own work crews, it's no excuse for an agency of the state to be neglectful.
Therein might lie the problem, as Oakland doesn't put priority in beautifying parts of the city where there isn't much money to be found. Downtown and the lake generally look solid, but elsewhere in spots like the Fruitvale and eastward towards San Leandro, very little is maintained. A lot of people mistake city beautification as a waste of money, when in reality it sets a tone and expectation that resonates around town. Let your city look like a ghetto and that's exactly how people will treat it. Places like east Oakland and the Fruitvale would benefit from a face lift, but sadly Oakland's own mayor treated her home like a landfill until she was publicly shamed on the news. By cotinuing to selectively maintain specific parts of Oakland, the city is sending the wrong message to its people and outside agencies like Caltrans.
Sadly, our options are limited to what they usually are in Oakland; taking care of things on our own . Call and complain to the mayor or Caltrans directly and ask why the town gets to look like a dump while places like Moraga look like a PGA playing field. There are a lot of bigger problems that deserve attention in the city, but that doesn't give Caltrans a pass to ignore where they're needed most.