Some areas of the Berkeley hills will be closed for 24 hours starting at 5 a.m. on July 4 to reduce fire risk.
Grizzly Peak Boulevard, from Centennial Drive to Skyline Boulevard, Panoramic Way and Prospect Street will limit access mostly to residents in cars, on foot or on bike.
Berkeley is sensitive to fire danger for a reason. The 1991 East Bay Hills firestorm in Oakland and Berkeley destroyed about 3,000 homes and structures and took two dozen lives.
Among the areas closed will be Lawrence Hall of Science, the UC Botanical Garden, UC Berkeley campus hiking trails, and the Steam Trains at Tilden Regional Park.
No stopping will be allowed along Grizzly Peak, where all turnouts will be closed, according to city officials.
The closed portion of Grizzly Peak Boulevard will remain open only to certain types of transportation, to ensure emergency vehicles have quick access: residents in cars, on bikes or foot; ride-sharing vehicles, and delivery vehicles.
Through traffic will be stopped at:
— Centennial Drive, between Stadium Rim Way and Grizzly Peak Boulevard
— Claremont Avenue, Fish Ranch Road, and Grizzly Peak Boulevard
— Lomas Cantadas and Grizzly Peak Boulevard
— South Park and Grizzly Peak Boulevard
— Skyline Boulevard and Grizzly Peak Boulevard
Not a bad idea imho …. Mt Diablo, Tam, and Oakland Hills should do the same … too many arson nuts and irresponsible people out there with fireworks
Independence Day should be celebrated in the wintertime and not during the peak of the dry season.
July 4, 1776 was a beautiful summer day in Philadelphia, with a low of 68 and a high of 76, according to records kept by Thomas Jefferson. So, it was a fine day for signing a Declaration of Independence!
And anyone who has ever been to Philadelphia in winter knows that it is not suitable for anything, least of all, a celebration.
𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝓃𝑜𝓌, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌.
Now if only they would sue PG&E to pay for all the fire damage that company has caused.
We’d better rake the forest before the Jewish Space Lasers get us again. 🙃