The pilot would block some side-street access near International Boulevard.
OAKLAND, CA — Oakland officials plan to test temporary traffic barriers on side streets off International Boulevard as part of a new effort to disrupt sex buying in an East Oakland corridor long tied to prostitution and trafficking concerns.
The pilot is led by City Councilmember Charlene Wang and would place water-filled barriers along parts of 9th, 10th and 11th avenues near International Boulevard. Officials say the goal is to block access to side streets where buyers often stop, while keeping activity more visible to police on the main road. Some residents and business owners say the plan may only move the problem to nearby blocks.
Wang said the city is focusing on a stretch near an elementary school and a health clinic, where neighbors have reported ongoing sex work and related traffic. “This pilot proposal is essentially to put up some water-filled traffic barriers along the streets of 9th, 10th and 11th Avenue off of International Boulevard,” Wang said. She said International Boulevard acts as the main corridor, while side streets are often where buying activity takes place. By limiting those turns, Wang said, the city hopes to interrupt the pattern without building a permanent street closure.
The corridor is often called “The Blade,” a local nickname tied to visible sex work along International Boulevard. The area has drawn repeated enforcement efforts, public safety meetings and complaints from residents who say the activity affects homes, businesses, schools and clinics. Oakland police announced in March that more than 70 people had been arrested this year in targeted human trafficking enforcement, including men accused of solicitation of prostitution and loitering with intent to purchase commercial sex. Police said those efforts were meant to hold buyers responsible and reduce commercial sexual exploitation along International Boulevard.
Wang said the barrier test is meant to make enforcement easier by changing traffic flow. “In some ways, it’s to force it onto International Boulevard,” she said. “That way it makes it easier for the police to do their job.” The plan follows a similar barrier effort used several years ago near 16th Avenue. City officials have not said how long the new pilot will last, what data will be used to judge it or whether barriers could later be moved, removed or expanded to other blocks.
Oakland’s broader response to commercial sexual exploitation includes policing, outreach and services through the city’s Department of Violence Prevention. The department was created in 2017 and is charged with reducing group violence, intimate partner violence and commercial sexual exploitation. Its gender-based violence work includes crisis response, emergency shelter, legal advocacy, therapeutic support, life coaching, employment support and safe spaces. An outside evaluation of Measure Z-funded services found thousands of people used gender-based violence services in recent years, with legal advocacy and therapeutic support among the most common forms of help recorded.
The barrier proposal has already drawn doubts from people who live and work near the corridor. David Nguyen, who runs Autolectrics Car Wash, said he did not think the plan would solve the issue. “No, I don’t think so,” Nguyen said. “They’ve been here for so long, at the corner.” Other critics of barrier-style responses have said such measures can shift sex work from one block to another rather than reduce exploitation or buyer demand. Wang also acknowledged that the outcome is not certain. “It’s an experiment,” she said. “Honestly, I think it’s a 50/50 chance that it’ll be successful.”
The next step is the city’s rollout of the temporary barriers near 9th, 10th and 11th avenues off International Boulevard. Officials have not announced a final start date or a public report date for the pilot. For now, the plan remains a test of whether street design can help police and residents address a long-running problem in East Oakland.
Author note: Last updated April 29, 2026.