Berkeley makes road safety upgrades after crashes kill pedestrians

A makeshift sign, put up after 67-year-old Roderick Nared was fatally struck by a car, asks motorists to drive slowly near Claremont Avenue and The Uplands. Credit: Daniel Ekonde/Berkeleyside

Berkeley has wrapped up a series of safety upgrades along one of its most dangerous roads in the hills, and is working on a different slate of improvements in the Elmwood District, following crashes that killed pedestrians in recent years.

Traffic safety on Claremont Avenue came under new scrutiny last July when a motorist fatally struck 67-year-old Roderick Nared, but safety advocates called for upgrades well before that.

Among the upgrades coming to Claremont Avenue are:

New crosswalks

Posts and signs within roadways

Raised center-line barriers at intersections to keep drivers in their lanes and force them to make slower turns

“Shark’s teeth” markings at crosswalks

Councilmember Mark Humbert, who represents the district Claremont crosses, announced the upgrades in a May newsletter. Work is expected to continue until June 12.

Humbert said construction would not affect sidewalks. There will likely be temporary parking restrictions in the area, and workers may occasionally shut down vehicle lanes while working.

Separately, officials have discussed installing a flashing pedestrian signal at Claremont and Eton avenues, but it is not clear when that project will commence.

Friends and neighbors have maintained a memorial for Julia Elkin, whom a motorist fatally struck at Marin Avenue and Oxford Street in 2024. Credit: Alex N. Gecan/Berkeleyside

“I still hope that we can consider bolder changes to Claremont in the near future,” Humbert wrote, “but these upgrades represent an excellent first step that should help ameliorate safety issues along the corridor.”

He added that the avenue and other major streets in Berkeley would benefit from automated speed cameras, which California has outlawed in all but a handful of cities.

Berkeley has also finished a set of changes meant to improve safety on Marin Avenue, where dozens of crashes over the last decade have resulted in three deaths and many more injuries just in the steep section northeast of Marin Circle, according to police data.

Beginning last summer the city installed or painted new high-visibility crosswalks, wider curbs to narrow travel lanes, hardened center-lines and new four-way stop signs at several intersections.

City workers will also trim back some vegetation to make it easier for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians to see what is coming at several intersections, according to Aleksandra Wolan, a spokesperson for Councilmember Shoshana O’Keefe, who represents parts of North Berkeley.

The city has painted a “bulb-out” at Ada and California streets. Credit: Alex N. Gecan/Berkeleyside

Two other fatal North Berkeley crashes led to changes at intersections.

After a motorist struck and killed 66-year-old Elise B. Lusk at Ada and California streets last year, the city painted new crosswalks, striping and a bulb-out, or a painted area meant to shunt drivers away from pedestrians. Workers also installed new signs to draw attention to pedestrians at the intersection.

And at Rose and Josephine streets, the city has put in new crosswalks, signs and bollards. A motorist struck and killed 78-year-old Benten “Ben” Brown at that intersection in November 2024. Brown was crossing the street at the time, and neighbors said unmarked crosswalks could have been a factor.

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