Last month, Oakland’s City Council voted to approve the environmental impact report (EIR) paving the way for Howard Terminal to be converted into an Oakland A’s ballpark, hotel, high-rise condominiums, and retail and restaurant complex.
Apparently, nowhere in the 3,500 pages of the EIR did the city council find any issues with pedestrians crossing active railroad tracks, cars interfering with truck traffic, added congestion in an already tight environment, small watercraft intersecting with 18,000 TEU ships, or high-end residential high-rises intruding on heavy industry.
Frankly, we do not know how they missed it.
Their “work arounds” are woefully inadequate and developed by people who have no idea how logistics works.
Is a shiny new stadium more important than the long-term viability of the Port of Oakland and the tens of thousands of well-paying jobs it supports? We think not.