The City of Oakland has removed traffic lights from a busy intersection after the lights were repeatedly tampered with and copper from them was stolen. Stop signs have been installed in their place. Area residents and business owners say the issue with the traffic lights stems from a nearby homeless encampment, which continues to grow.
Tam Le, the owner of a vehicle repair shop on the corner of the intersection, said the city is signalling that it is “giving up on us” by installing the stop signs. Copper theft isn’t new in California. Earlier this month, videos emerged showing thieves ransacking Tesla charging stations for the metal.
The traffic lights reportedly malfunctioned for months, either blinking red or going out completely, causing confusion and hazardous driving conditions in the area. “The city did try to fix the traffic light at least a few times. But once they fixed it, normally within a week or so it will go out again,” Le told CBS News, per the U.
K. Daily Mail . The business owner said homeless people are allegedly stealing power from the city’s electrical boxes and copper from the traffic lights.
Area resident Mason Young told the outlet that the old-fashioned stop signs are a “new solution to a problem that’s taken many forms here.” The big red signs are better than the ill-functioning traffic lights, he said, claiming the lights were responsible for sending a truck into one of the fences of Le’s repair shop. Young said the city is simply .
