Last month, I spent $485 replacing my car’s four tires, the steep cost of driving around Oakland, where countless gaping potholes create an almost comical need to constantly zigzag down roads.

I’ve long been vocal about my frustration over the neglect of the streets of East Oakland, where I grew up and still live. I recently tweeted photos from a particular street I drive on every day — 55th Avenue — located in the vicinity of High Street and Maxwell Park—looking like a slice of Swiss cheese. Not long after, folks on Twitter responded by mentioning other horrendous streets filled with these asphalt monsters from the depths of hell that have been overlooked by the Oakland Department of Transportation.

It was within that Twitter thread that Kenya Wheeler, a transportation planner and chair of the Oakland Bicyclist and Pedestrian Advisory Commission, replied with a link to the paving project proposal, further outlined in this separate thread.

The ambitious plan, approved last Tuesday by the Oakland City Council, would grant $100 million to improve Oakland’s streets over the next three years and, for a change in policy, give focus to poorer neighborhoods that are typically neglected.

As an East Oakland resident, I have seen how neighborhoods where minorities live continue to be at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to improvements.

My immediate reaction was to doubt that the streets of East Oakland would be given any sort of priority over gentrified corridors in North Oakland and downtown, or the rich neighborhoods of Montclair, Rockridge and even the Hills. The past would seem to prove that this is certainly not going to happen.

As an East Oakland resident, I have seen how neighborhoods where minorities live continue to be at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to improvements. While I understand that a lot of this has to do with budget structures and—let’s face it—politics, I can’t help but feel the indifference of Oakland’s government officials. We often see how neighborhoods where affluent transplants have moved into are quickly “fixed” to keep its new residents happy. Meanwhile, over in the flatlands, the neglect is palpable as you cruise through the streets, the holes servings as a physical symbol of the very real disparity among the town’s neighborhoods.

Take Hyde Street, located in Fruitvale, where the median income of its residents is $45,000 a year and is labeled in the report as having a paving condition index of “poor.” Anyone who has driven through there can attest to its crumbling infrastructure and how it will most likely not withstand another rainy season.

Photo by BJ Gopinath

But the plan suggests that East Oakland and other lower-income neighborhoods may finally get the desperate help their streets need. Of the $100 million available for the project, $75 million is slated to be directly allocated to neighborhoods with both the worst roads and the highest percentage of underserved residents.

In late April, a duo that goes by “Pothole Vigilantes” (and prefer to remain anonymous due to the questionable legality of their quest) took on the arduous and dangerous task of filling up potholes themselves.

This is a massive increase in investment. By comparison, back in 2014, the city set a five-year prioritization plan, only $11 million per year, with $9 million going to major roads and a measly $2 million for local streets. This year’s plan grants $33 million per year, with $8 million going to major streets and $25 million going to local streets (as of last year, Oakland residents can report problems either by calling 311 or by submitting an online request through the “See Click Fix” portal).

It’s for that reason — putting the focus on poorer neighborhoods — that wealthy residents in more affluent neighborhoods are none too pleased with the plan. At a recent community presentation at the Berkeley Tennis Club (one of many the Department of Transportation has held throughout the East Bay), some of the Oakland Hills residents in attendance voiced their discontent, according to coverage by Rachel Swan, a City Hall reporter with the San Francisco Chronicle. In their eyes, since they pay significantly more in property taxes, they feel as though they should get priority.

“If you don’t fix the roads here, you could literally kill an entire community,” said Montclair resident Alisa Hause.

While the plan has already passed, details on design, bidding, construction contracts and the actual work are yet to be laid out by the City Council.

Photo by BJ Gopinath

Since the plan started making the rounds on social media, Oakland residents — unwilling to wait for slow change — have put their grievances into action. In late April, a duo that goes by “Pothole Vigilantes” (and prefers to remain anonymous due to the questionable legality of their quest) took on the arduous and dangerous task of filling up potholes themselves. The original idea was to create an app that people could use to report a pothole for the duo to fix.

“We thought, what if we create an app where you can take a picture of a pothole, and it could tell you where it is, how big it is and how much it would cost to fill? Then everyone could donate to fill it, and once it hit the right amount, we could go and fill it,” one of the PVs told me. “It’s crowdfunding for potholes.”

The app idea hasn’t panned out yet, but the Pothole Vigilantes went a more personable, community-focused route, reaching out to neighbors door to door to see if they would be willing to donate money to get potholes filled — an idea enthusiastically received by fellow Oakland residents they met. As the pair started getting funds from neighbors, they did their research on the DIY process to fix potholes, in addition to starting a GoFundMe account with a goal of $50,000 to develop an app.

“We think the [eventual] prototype app could serve many communities, not just Oakland,” one of the PVs said.

Photo by BJ Gopinath

As donations started pouring through their Venmo, with some donors specifying streets they want to see repaired and others simply applauding their cause, they have gotten to work. The Pothole Vigilantes work at night, as there is less traffic and also less of a chance of being recognized. And they document every pothole they have fixed on Instagram.

Each pothole takes five to ten 50-pound bags of asphalt to cover, costing $20 per bag, which comes out to roughly $100–$200 per hole. However, when the material is bought in bulk for about $150 rather than the individual smaller bags, and without added labor cost, the price per pothole decreases to a much more manageable cost of only around $10 each, depending on the size.

The PVs’ efforts garnered the attention of mayor Libby Schaaf, who tweeted, “Of course, #Oakland has pothole vigilantes — we’re a DIY town.” The tweet caused some blowback, as many see this growing problem as neglect that should not have to be taken care of by residents. “Pretty sure we will all be PV since this is a 3 YEAR draft!? We will continue to wait and wait for nothing to improve,” one person replied.

Sean Maher, public information officer for Public Works and Transportation, said in an email to TBI that the department can’t approve PVs’ works, but it’s understandable.

“The [Pothole Vigilantes] are frustrated and fed up with the pavement conditions in their neighborhood,” said Maher. “We can’t condone and do not recommend residents do this work themselves, not least because it raises safety issues while people are working in the streets.”

The Pothole Vigilantes are not the only concerned citizens taking matters into their own hands. Luz Calvo, a professor of ethnic studies at Cal State East Bay and co-author of the cookbook Decolonize Your Diet: Plant-Based Mexican-American Recipes for Health and Healing (who prefers the pronoun they), also got in on the DIY action, rallying up the neighbors of the East Oakland neighborhood where they live, an act of frustration shared by many who have seen requests unanswered. “We have reported the poor condition of our street dozens of times over the past few years, but the city had not helped us. We have had enough,” reads Calvo’s Instagram post.

Photo by BJ Gopinath

Low-income residents in Oakland have long gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to neighborhood improvements. It’s easy to see as you drive from one end of town to the other. Whether it’s school closures, repaving, street reconfigurations or designated bike lanes, in the eyes of those who live in impoverished neighborhoods, their wealthier counterparts have always been given priority, leaving disenfranchised communities in the dark. This trend only increased as Oakland started to become more gentrified.

Whether severely damaged streets are able to withstand another rainy season, the rollout of the paving project remains to be seen. In the meantime, frustrated Oaklanders are not waiting any longer.