It is the largest park in the city and home to the Sacramento Zoo<\/a>, Fairytale Town <\/a>and the William Land Golf Course<\/a>. But a street that cuts through the panhandle of the park has become the center of a growing debate over safety.<\/p>\n Members of the Land Park Community Association<\/a> say the peace they find in the park is under threat by speeding cars and other dangerous behavior on weekends.<\/p>\n In turn, those neighbors have called for the city<\/a> to close a stretch of 12th Avenue between Riverside Boulevard and 13th Street, saying the roadway has become a popular cut-through for speeding drivers, street racing and illegal gatherings. Nearly 900 people have signed a petition<\/a> supporting changes.<\/p>\n \u201cThe last thing we want to see is somebody who\u2019s using the park the way it was intended getting hurt or killed by somebody who\u2019s partying or driving through at excessive speeds,\u201d said Jason Bryant, a member of the community group who lives near the park with his wife and young children.<\/p>\n Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty said Wednesday he hears the concerns raised by residents and that a decision is coming within weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cWilliam Land Park is a city-owned, regional amenity,\u201d he said. \u201cWe must balance resident needs while preserving park access for the broader Sacramento community.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018The city\u2019s crown jewel\u2019<\/p>\n Bryant said residents have spent more than a year documenting speeding, burnouts, unpermitted car gatherings and other behavior they believe discourages families from using the park, especially on weekends.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not married to one solution,\u201d Bryant said. \u201cWe just want to make that area more accessible and safer and more conducive to families and recreation. It is the city\u2019s crown jewel.\u201d<\/p>\n McCarty said the Sacramento city manager\u2019s staff recently met with some of the concerned neighbors, and will have an answer for them soon.<\/p>\n \u201cCity Manager Maraskeshia Smith, Councilmember Rick Jennings and I are carefully evaluating the neighborhood\u2019s proposal and considering broader impacts and citywide policies,\u201d McCarty said.<\/p>\n The mayor cautions there is no imminent vote on the proposal, although Councilmembers Eric Guerra and Phil Pluckebaum support closing the roads, which Jennings proposed on behalf of the neighborhood. <\/p>\n Will aggrieved neighbors be happy with the city\u2019s decision?<\/p>\n \u201cProbably not everything they want,\u201d McCarty said.<\/p>\n The mayor also said police and park officials have told him Land Park has some of the strongest safety statistics of any park in Sacramento in comparison to other parks.<\/p>\n \u2018We care deeply about this park\u2019<\/p>\n For Bryant, the issue isn\u2019t about limiting access to the park.<\/p>\n \u201cWe care deeply about this park,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want it to be open and safe and accessible for families.\u201d<\/p>\n The question now is whether city leaders believe changing traffic patterns is the best way to accomplish that goal.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re trying to balance all of that in a fair way,\u201d McCarty said.<\/p>\n Rob Stewart\u00a0is a\u00a0senior correspondent and host\u00a0for\u00a0Abridged by\u00a0PBS KVIE.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Abridged version: The Land Park Community Association is calling for road closures within the park\u2019s panhandle. Neighbors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393151,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-393150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"map\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-1024x531.png.webp\")
Proposed road closures in William Land Park. (Shelley Ho\/Google Maps)<\/p>\n![\"road\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/DSC02512-1024x617.jpg.webp\")
12th Avenue in William Land Park in Sacramento on Wednesday, July 8, 2026. A proposal calls to close interior streets in the panhandle of William Land Park in Sacramento, including 12th Avenue. (Cameron Clark)<\/p>\n