Petty officials destroy desperate California locals' homemade roundabout they erected to stop dangerous sideshows

Local authorities took apart desperate residents' homemade roundabouts they erected to stop dangerous sideshows from happening in their California neighborhood.

Oakland's San Antonio neighborhood has been grappling with nearly daily sideshows, or informal car stunt demonstrations that happen illegally in empty lots or busy streets.

The crisis that has escalated to a point of desperation for residents. Fed up with the city's perceived inaction, neighbors took matters into their own hands, constructing tire barriers and makeshift roundabouts to deter reckless driving.

'This is the worst I have seen it in my 23 years of living here… It's way more worse and dangerous,' Randy Duarte, a San Antonio resident, told KRON4.

'They almost killed someone,' resident Michael Andemeskel told KTVU. 'There's a school up there. Kids have been hit on this street. There are people whose cars have been crashed into and totaled.' 

To combat the chaos, neighbors constructed tire barriers and transformed three  intersections into roundabouts in an effort to stop to the reckless driving.

'The speed bumps were bolted into the ground to make it hard to move,' Duarte said.

The DIY traffic calming measures appeared to be effective, according to Duarte. 

'It actually made everyone come to a stop. They think it's a problem,' Duarte said. 

But the city swiftly removed the barriers, citing safety concerns.

Neighbors argue the city isn't doing enough to protect them.

Odelson Souza told KUTV that his two-year-old son had a near-miss with a speeding car coming down the sidewalk.

'Look, please help us,' said Souza. 'Who else we gonna call? Superman?'  

The city has justified the removal, calling the barriers 'unauthorized hazards.'

'We at the city empathize with our community, and we all want safer streets, but increasing the risk to the public by installing hazards is not the solution. The city will promptly remove these unauthorized, dangerous installations,' the City of Oakland said in a statement to KRON4.  

Oakland Residents like Heather Washington are undeterred. 

'What we heard when we did inquiries about getting an actual roundabout, we were told that somebody has to die first before they'll do anything about that… And, we're just not waiting for that,' said Washington.

'The next step is to continue with the pressure and effort on the city.'

The community is determined to continue pressing the city for effective solutions to the ongoing sideshow crisis.