How these Bay Area cities are transforming intersections to crack down on illegal sideshows

Friday, October 7, 2022

How Bay Area cities are trying to curb sideshow activity

Several Bay Area cities are installing Botts' Dots and speed bumps in the middle of intersections to crack down on sideshow activity.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- There's a new effort to crack down on sideshows across the Bay Area.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) installed speed bumps in the middle of an intersection.

These are at Plymouth Avenue and Sadowa Street in the city's Oceanview neighborhood.

Oakland is trying a similar plan.

VIDEO: They're called 'Botts' Dots' and they could be the answer to deterring Oakland sideshows

Oakland is implementing a new strategy to deter sideshows from happening in some of their busiest intersections.

ABC7 News spoke with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf about the effort to crack down on sideshows.

"We're trying to engineer the prevention of sideshows, and other cities have definitely been asking us about how these things have worked center, lines that are hardened, the new rubber speed bumps that can be installed rapidly, as well as these botts' dots that get harder to do the donuts in intersections," Schaaf said.

The SFMTA says it will weigh the effectiveness of the sideshow speed bumps and determine if there's a need for more.

Here are the intersections where speed bumps or botts' dots are installed in the Bay Area:

San Francisco

20th St/Folsom
Plymouth/Sadowa: Corner bump outs
Alemany/Geneva: Botts' dots in the intersection
Byrant/Sterling
Fairfax between Keith and Newhall: Pending median treatment
Galvez east of Donahue: Pending median treatment
Barneveld/Loomis/McKinnon: Pending for intersection narrowing and islands

Oakland

35th Avenue/MacArthur
Fairfax/Foothill
High/MacArthur
42nd Avenue/International Blvd: OakDOT received an Encroachment Permit from Caltrans in August and is in the process of designing hardened centerlines for installation by the end of 2022.
42nd Avenue under I-880 (known as "the Pit")
106th Avenue/MacArthur: Installation is planned for Sept.r/Oct. 2022.
55th Avenue/Foothill
82nd Avenue/MacArthur
Seminary Avenue/MacArthur
82nd Avenue/International: Intersection is in Caltrans right-of-way and treatments are subject to state approval