Zachary's Corner, site of driver attack, already on list for a fix
Zachary's Corner has a history of serious traffic collisions, including the crash that killed 5-year-old Zachary Cruz in 2009.
The intersection where a driver ran down a man on a bike last week is already set for improvements as one of Berkeley's "high-injury" corridors.
The city renamed the crossing "Zachary's Corner" in memory of 5-year-old Zachary Cruz, who was killed there by a truck driver after being dropped off by a school bus in 2009.
Police deemed the collision an accident. No criminal charges were filed.
Many people use the route — from Derby Street onto Warring Street — to get to UC Berkeley a half-mile or so up the road.
And Cal's busy Clark Kerr Campus, where hundreds of students live, is right on the corner.
As it happened, the city began working on a plan more than a year ago to improve safety at Zachary's Corner — not that a redesign would have made much of a difference last week, officials noted at a recent meeting.
"As I understand it," said Councilman Mark Humbert, "this guy was going 50 miles an hour downhill straight through the intersection."
Humbert described the incident as a "terrible event of traffic violence" and said the intersection is a "very dangerous, strange crossing" on a normal day.
Read more about traffic safety in Berkeley.
At the meeting Wednesday, which focused on town-gown relations, Humbert and other elected officials heard the latest on improvement plans, which were funded by a 2021 settlement with Cal that brings more than $4 million into city coffers each year.
Humbert said the whole corridor, from Derby up to Cal, is dangerous for students and other neighbors alike.
In addition to the fatal crash that killed Zachary Cruz, there have been a handful of other serious collisions in the area in the past decade or so, leading to injuries for motorists as well as cyclists, pedestrians and at least one motorcycle or scooter rider, according to state traffic data.
Prior to last week, when police say a driver intentionally mowed down a 78-year-old cyclist and two pedestrians around the corner, the most recent serious collision took place in 2024, when an AC Transit bus driver hit an 83-year-old Berkeley man, sending him to Highland Hospital.
Emilie Raguso
In Wednesday's meeting, city staff agreed that the entire corridor, along Warring Street and Piedmont Avenue crossing Derby Street, Parker Street and Dwight Way up to about Haste Street, has been classified as "high injury" and needs to be reviewed.
"We're looking at every angle, not just stopping at Zachary's Corner," said Wahid Amiri, the city's deputy director of public works. "But the good part is that we have funding for Zachary's Corner."
Amiri told officials the city has already "made good progress" on the plans — which are now moving forward.
Transportation engineer Michael Ruiz said the project emphasizes traffic safety over operational changes, with four alternatives under consideration to reduce traffic injuries and deaths.
They include removing the "slip lane" from Derby onto Warring; reconfiguring the intersection so drivers are "more in line" with pedestrians in the crosswalk; and building a traffic circle or raised crosswalk.
The city's current pick is the slip lane removal, Ruiz said, but no decision has been made, pending a public meeting, likely in November, and input from the family of Zachary Cruz.
A recent traffic analysis found "excessive delays" southbound on Warring during the evening commute along with slightly elevated speeds on Derby Street.
Ruiz also noted that area residents had made multiple requests for traffic calming in the neighborhood.
Ruben Lizardo, director of community and government relations for UC Berkeley, asked the city to consider planning construction around the PM commute, given that much of the traffic at the intersection comes from people leaving campus.
Amiri said the city would try to take that into consideration — and is still studying other possible improvements, too, such as better lighting at the corner.
" It's gonna be all inclusive," said Amiri. "Beautiful project."
Liz Fox
The project is expected to cost around $1 million, fully funded by the UC settlement fund, with construction as soon as 2026 pending council approval.
After Wednesday's meeting, Councilman Humbert, who represents the district, said the subject of Zachary's Corner was an emotional one for him.
Humbert, who was elected to the Berkeley City Council in 2022, was president of the local neighborhood association, and on the city Transportation Commission, when Zachary was killed.
"It's been on my mind the whole time, to get something done there," he said. "It's been on the mind of a lot of the residents around there."
Over the years: Zachary's Corner. Ours Did
In the years after the tragedy, family and friends, as well as other community members, often decorated the corner, leaving flowers and knit ornaments in his memory. In 2010, the Zachary's Corner sign went up.
The crash that killed Zachary Cruz also provided the impetus, under former council rep Lori Droste, for Berkeley to become a Vision Zero city, pledging to end serious and fatal traffic collisions through largely engineering solutions.
The fact that the project was up for discussion the same week yet another serious crash took place at Zachary's Corner was a coincidence — but perhaps not a surprise.
"It's been a problem for so long," Humbert said.
The councilman was heading out for a hike with his daughter last week when he began getting alerts through the Citizen app about a collision in his district.
The alerts were confusing because there were multiple locations: Belrose and Derby, Zachary's Corner, College and Derby, Garber Street.
"I'm thinking, how is this all possible?" Humbert said. "So it was shocking. As it built up, I thought, hopefully this isn't that bad. And then it became clearer and clearer that it was really terrible."
Emilie Raguso
All three victims — a dog walker, a jogger and the 78-year-old cyclist (Mr. Bob, the longtime Emerson Elementary traffic safety volunteer) — would ultimately be taken to Highland Hospital, the regional trauma center, for treatment.
Shortly after the collisions, Humbert stopped at one of the crime scenes to speak with police and learn more. He saw a crime scene tech photographing a mangled bicycle from every angle, and an officer looking for a hose to wash a pool of blood out of the street.
He spoke to a stunned eyewitness. And, as the day went on, he realized he knew one of the victims.
"I don't think we've ever had anything quite this awful in District 8 since I've been a council member," he said.
That night, Humbert devoted a special edition of his newsletter to the incident.
"I am not going to pretend there are easy answers here," he wrote. "We are still awaiting more information about what exactly might have led to this person’s intoxication, presence in Berkeley, and inexplicable, murderous decision to attack our neighbors."
Now, Berkeley police and other city staffers will hold their usual "rapid response" meeting to consider potential engineering solutions that could help make the area safer.
"This wasn't a regular accident," Humbert told TBS. "Given that this was such a serious series of traffic violence incidents, there will be a team that's assembled to look at whether there are any ways to help prevent something like this from happening in the future."
Walk Bike Berkeley, a local traffic safety advocacy organization, also issued a statement after the Sept. 16 collisions.
"Walk Bike Berkeley is deeply upset that a motorist severely injured several people walking and biking and traumatized many more near Emerson Elementary," the organization wrote. "This horrible incidence of intentional traffic violence underscores that cars are dangerous death machines, particularly when operated by intoxicated and careless or aggressive people on streets that encourage high speeds."
"We hope the victims of these collisions heal quickly," the statement continued, "and that the City of Berkeley redoubles its efforts to protect the safety of people walking and biking."
Ivan Salvador Ochoa Munguia. BPD
Last week, the Alameda County district attorney's office charged Ivan Salvador Ochoa Munguia with three counts of attempted murder as well as using his stolen car as a deadly weapon.
Munguia, a 26-year-old Vallejo man, is also facing three counts of hit-and-run causing injury, two counts of vehicle theft, two counts of attempted vehicle theft and receiving stolen property, the DA's office said.
He remains in custody this week, without bail, and is set to enter a plea Oct. 1.
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