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Flooding
Public Works Agency - Customer Call Center
(510) 615-5566
1. To report a flooded road, call the Public Works Agency - Customer Call Center at 615-5566. An emergency repair crew will be dispatched as soon as possible, depending on the severity of the problem and the number of other places that are experiencing problems.
2. Public Works extends its hours during the winter to make biodegradable sandbags and plastic sheeting available to property owners whose properties are prone to flooding. To obtain these materials, first call (510) 615-5566 to ensure that sandbags are available. Then stop by the Public Works facility at 7101 Edgewater Drive, or at the Public Works satellite facility at 5921 Shepherd Canyon Road, between 8am – 9pm on Monday-Friday, and 8am – 4:30pm on weekends. You will need to provide proof of residency.
Blocked Storm Drains (the metal grates located at the curb of a street)
Public Works Agency - Infrastructure Maintenance Division
(510) 482-7853
1. To report a storm drain that is blocked or not draining properly, call the Public Works Agency’s Infrastructure Maintenance Division at (510) 482-7853 during business hours to report the location and type of problem. For after-hours emergencies, call (510) 615-5566.
2. A maintenance crew will be sent to clear the drain as soon as possible, depending on the severity of the problem and the number of other places that are experiencing problems.
Backed-Up Sewers
Public Works Agency - Customer Call Center
(510) 615-5566
1. If a sewer line backs up, call the Public Works Agency - Customer Call Center at (510) 615-5566. A Public Works team is on-call 24 hours a day, and will respond to your call immediately.
2. The team will check the City’s sewer lines on the streets adjacent to your house. If no problem is found in the City lines, the problem is on private property and thus the responsibility of the property owner, who will be instructed to call a plumber. (This saves citizens the time and money of calling a plumber unnecessarily.)
3. To report rats on private property that may have come through the sewer line, call Alameda County Vector Control at (510) 567-6800.
Potholes
Public Works Agency - Customer Call Center
(510) 615-5577
1. To report a pothole, call the Public Works Agency - Customer Call Center at (510) 615-5577.
2. Leave a message describing the exact location of the pothole—either using the street address, or if there is no address nearby, describing which side of the street it is on, and the nearest intersection or address.
3. To varying degrees, there is usually a backlog of requests for pothole repair. Requests will be added to the list and are typically fixed in the order in which they are received. However, if a pothole is extremely large, or on a busy street, it will receive higher priority.
Street Sweeping Problems
Public Works Agency - Keep Oakland Clean and Beautiful - Street Cleaning section
(510) 615-5566
1. Typically, commercial areas are swept nightly and residential areas once or twice monthly. Signs are posted on each block to notify residents of date and time sweeping will occur so that cars can be moved accordingly.
2. To report a missed street or any other problem with the street sweeping in your neighborhood, call the Public Works Agency - Keep Oakland clean and Beautiful - Street Cleaning section at (510) 615-5566. Because cars must be moved from the street in order for street sweeping to be done, it is best to file your report as soon as possible, preferably within the hours that the cars on the street are still moved. If you file your report after this time, it will be much more difficult for street sweeping to return and clean your street.
Getting Street Sweeping Started or Stopped in your Neighborhood
Public Works Agency- Keep Oakland Clean and Beautiful - Street Cleaning section
(510) 615-5566
The process for getting street sweeping started or stopped on your street or in your neighborhood is being revised. At this time, to get your streets swept regularly, you need to get a petition from Public Works Agency’s Transportation Services Division on which you will have to collect signatures from the majority of property owners of the street or neighborhood. However, this process will likely be changed within the next several months. To learn about the new process, call the Public Works Agency- Keep Oakland Clean and Beautiful - Street Cleaning section at (510) 615-5566.
Curb Painting
Public Works Agency’s Transportation Services Division
(510) 238-3466
1. To request that a curb in your neighborhood be repainted, call the Public Works Agency’s Transportation Services Division at (510) 238-3466.
2. If you would like your “driveway tipping” (i.e., the curbs immediately surrounding your driveway) re-painted, you will be charged a $50 fee. However, the City performs maintenance on handicapped parking spots and fire hydrants for no charge.
3. Transportation Services will complete the painting in four to six weeks from the time your request is submitted.
Street Light Malfunctions (broken, out, flickering)
Call the Public Works Agency’s Electrical Services Division
(510) 615-5430
1. Call the Public Works Agency’s Electrical Services Division, at (510) 615-5430.
2. You will be asked to describe the location of the streetlight problem, and to provide your name, address and phone number.
3. The street light problem will be fixed within one to three days after receipt of your call, unless there is a PG&E malfunction. PG&E malfunctions may require up to a month to correct.
Street Lights—New or Additional
Public Works Agency’s Electrical Services Division
(510) 615-5430
1. Call the Public Works Agency’s Electrical Services Division at (510) 615-5430 and tell the receptionist that you are interested in getting additional street lighting installed in a neighborhood. The caller will either be directed to speak to an engineer, or will be asked to leave a message with name, address, telephone number, and the location at which the additional street lighting is desired. Public Works will send a letter immediately, acknowledging the request and describing the process by which streetlights are added.
2. A lighting engineer will be sent to inspect the current amount of lighting on the street, and draft a description of what an increase in lighting would look like. A letter will be sent to the person making the request along with a petition form describing the proposed increase, so that the neighborhood can determine whether this is the increase that is desired.
3. If your request for additional lighting is for a specific block, the requestor will need to obtain approval from a “simple majority” of residents and/or businesses (half of the businesses or residents in the neighborhood or on the block, plus one).
4. Once the completed petition is returned and confirmed to be successful, the Electrical Services Division will engineer and schedule the work for the lighting change.
5. If the increase does not require a change in voltage or a new PG&E connection, the lighting increase will be completed within one month. If the lighting increase requires that the voltage be increased or a new PG&E connection be made, the process can take several months. This is because PG&E must submit the request and obtain approval from their own engineering department, schedule the work and then do the actual change or connection.
6. A follow-up telephone call, email, or letter will be sent to the requestor, informing them of whether or not PG&E will need to be involved with the project, and the estimated timeline for the work.
New Stop Sign
Public Works Agency’s Transportation Services Division
(510) 238-3466
1. Call the Public Works Agency’s Transportation Services Division at (510) 238-3466 and describe the location and reason for the request.
2. Transportation Services will send a traffic engineer out to investigate and determine if a stop sign is warranted from a traffic safety perspective. Because of the backlog of requests, this could take up to six weeks.
3. If Transportation Services determines that a stop sign is needed, it will identify a funding source for the installation and prepare a resolution for the City Council to authorize expenditure of the funds. Identification of funds and Council approval takes an average of four weeks.
4. If the resolution is approved, the Public Works Agency's Transportation Services Division will install the stop sign immediately.
5. If the intersection is an immediate hazard (i.e., a serious accident has occurred there), this process can be accelerated.
New Speed Bumps
Public Works Agency’s Transportation Services Division
(510) 238-3466
In order to qualify for speed bumps, a street must:
- be classified as a local/residential street
- have a curb-to-curb width of 40 feet or less
- have no more than two lanes (one in each direction)
- be relatively flat, with a grade not exceeding 7%
have a speed limit of 25 mph and 85% of vehicles traveling at over 32 mph
- not have an AC Transit route on the street
- not be a cul-de-sac or dead-end street
1. Call the Public Works Agency’s Transportation Services Division at (510) 238-3466 and describe the location and reason for the request.
2. Within that same day, Transportation Services will send a petition form and instructions.
3. The petitioner must obtain signatures from at least 67% of the addresses within one block of where the speed bumps are requested. If the petitioner wishes to have speed bumps installed on more than one street, he or she must submit separate petitions for each block.
4. Included with the petition should be the number of individual apartment units (each of which counts as a separate address for the 67% calculation), as well as corner properties with frontage on the street where speed bumps are requested. Also, the petition must indicate if there is a nursery school or preschool on the block and the total number of addresses within the block on which speed bumps are requested.
5. Within two weeks of receipt of the completed petition, Transportation Services will inform residents of the status of their petition and add the request to the list of streets requesting speed bumps.
6. It takes a minimum of three weeks for the speed bumps to be designed and letters sent to addresses fronting where the speed bumps will be installed. Installation of the speed bumps will take an additional month. If there is a long list of neighborhoods requesting speed bumps, these durations can grow significantly.
7. Because of the safety issues involved (e.g., speed bumps hinder emergency vehicles), and the potential for neighbors to submit counter-petitions, the City cannot guarantee that speed bumps will be installed, even if a qualifying petition is submitted.
New Traffic Signal
Public Works Agency’s Transportation Services Division
(510) 238-3466
1. Call the Public Works Agency’s Transportation Services Division at (510) 238-3466 and describe the location and the reason for the request.
2. The Division will send a traffic engineer out within four to six weeks to investigate and determine if a traffic signal is warranted and feasible.
3. Once the traffic engineer has analyzed the traffic flow at the intersection, the location will be added to the list of traffic signal requests as appropriate. Requests are considered and prioritized based on the following criteria: (1) traffic and pedestrian volume; (2) number of accidents; (3) gaps in traffic; and (4) speed of traffic.
4. The City typically has funding for the installation of two or three new traffic signals each year. The length of time between receipt of request and installation depends on the circumstances of the intersection but usually takes a minimum of 12 months for the City to design, procure, and legislatively authorize the installation. There are currently over 300 intersections awaiting a new traffic signal.
Traffic Flow Changes (e.g., requesting a “left turn only” at the end of your street)
Public Works Agency’s Transportation Services Division
(510) 238-3466
1. Call the Public Works Agency’s Transportation Services Division at (510) 238-3466 and describe the location and the reason that a traffic flow change is being requested.
2. The Division will send a traffic engineer out to survey the area and determine if a traffic flow change is warranted and feasible. Because of the backlog of requests, dispatching an engineer could take up to six weeks.
3. If the engineer’s traffic survey indicates that a traffic flow change is needed, Transportation Services will submit a request to the Agency’s Transportation Services Division to install necessary signs and restriping. This can usually be done within one week.
Street Signs Damaged or Missing
Public Works Agency - Customer Call Center
(510) 615-5566
The Public Works Agency will repair the sign as soon as possible, but usually within the week, depending on the sign and the urgency. Stop signs or other important signs are fixed within 24 hours.
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