Yes on EE
Berkeley needs better streets & sidewalks
As Berkeleyans experience every day, over 40% of our streets are officially in poor to failed condition. Over the next five years, the overall condition of our streets is expected to continue to decline, and the $260 million current backlog of deferred maintenance will grow by about 25%. Likewise, our sidewalks and pedestrian paths are crumbling and hazardous.
Measure EE is an opportunity to fix this ongoing problem!
Measure EE is narrowly focused on fixing all our streets, sidewalks, and pedestrian paths over the next 12 years – with no padding for undefined and unplanned infrastructure projects. Measure EE requires the city to maintain its recently increased street maintenance budget—otherwise, the tax goes away!
Hundreds of volunteers worked to get Measure EE on the ballot
Thanks to hundreds of Berkeley volunteers, we collected more than enough signatures to qualify our measure for the ballot! Our efforts continue with help and donations from the many Berkeley residents who want to see our streets and sidewalks fixed.
Compare Measure EE with the competing measure
Measure EE (Fix the Streets & Sidewalks) will be one of two measures on the city of Berkeley November ballot. Whichever ballot measure gets more votes, and over 50% of the total, will prevail.
We believe Measure EE is by far the better option!
The condition of Berkeley’s streets
Some submissions to the City of Berkeley’s ClickFix Issue Reporting System showing complaints.
Testimonials – Why we need Measure EE
I don't own a vehicle. I built my own custom bicycle and adapted it to my disability needs. Often, I have to get off my bicycle because of the poor condition of the streets. Likewise, many of our sidewalks have trip hazards and many are not usable for persons using wheelchairs, walkers or white canes. I support Measure EE because it prioritizes fixing the worst sidewalks and streets first, which will ensure equal access and accessibility. It’s about time that accessibility is prioritized, and I believe EE will do the job!
— Helen Walsh
I am an energy planner who has worked on decarbonization and climate protection for years. I appreciate living in Berkeley where people take climate change seriously. But I have found no serious study that would support the notion that Measure FF would reduce greenhouse gas emissions any more than the much less costly and disruptive Measure EE.
Bicycling and walking are great, and it’s vital for Berkeley to make these safer. That’s what Measure EE will do. Portraying cars versus bicycles as a climate morality issue when the emissions benefits of a plan like Measure FF are highly uncertain is wrong -- a kind of performative environmentalism that is more likely to create a political backlash.
Measure EE is sound policy: it is fiscally responsible, it invests in safety for all, and it is responsive to neighborhoods. Measure FF is not sound policy. FF will cost 50 percent more, and for bicycle safety it prioritizes miles of curb-separated two-way cycle tracks. Those two-way cycle tracks are not only wildly unpopular (perhaps why they are not mentioned by name in FF) but in many of the proposed locations they are also objectively unsafe, violating expert guidelines regarding what kinds of streets are suitable.
Read Jim’s full opinion piece here.
— Jim Williams
We shouldn’t need a citizens’ measure like Fix The Streets on the ballot to make sure that every street is paved and safe but, unfortunately, we do. Join us!
— Kevin Jones
Join us!
Working together, ordinary folks have the power to make our city government more responsible and more responsive to Berkeley’s basic needs. You can help ensure that Measure EE prevails in November!