Street Barriers

In 1976 six street in Shaker Heights, Ohio, installed a “traffic diverters” or roadblocks. The original explanation given for why the roadblocks were necessary was, at the request of neighborhood residents to prevent accidents and traffic jams. These roadblocks were setup near new neighborhoods that were predominantly African American because of “black migration into the suburbs during the 1960s”. These roadblocks were right along or close to the border and were perceived as a racially driven and given the title of “the Berlin Wall for black people.” In 1985 a Common Pleas Court hearing ruled for all of the barriers to be removed, two of these six roadblocks still remain.