Centennial Drive Evacuation Support Project
UCB HILL CAMPUS
Objectives
The objective of this project is to support safe emergency evacuation on Centennial Drive if a landslide or wildfire would occur. Currently numerous trees near Centennial Dr. can fall across the road and block traffic or burn with such intensity that passage is prohibited during a wildfire.
This work is part of the other fire management plan implementation activities that the campus does in the Hill Campus. Facilities Services has removed numerous trees throughout the Hill Campus to ensure access and egress for the last several years. Sites where this work has occurred includes the Upper and Lower Jordan Fire Trail, Field Station for Behavioral Research, and Tightwad Hill. This project is a preventative measure because the trees are increasingly unstable, having been weakened first by the drought, and the underpinning soil made more unstable by the previous wet winter.
Project Goals
In all areas, the fuel mitigation work focuses on removing fire-promoting trees, understory shrubs and small trees that could enable torching, and trees that may block access/egress should they fall. The goal is to improve life safety and reduce loss from wildfires by supporting the conversion of the existing fire-prone forest to a woodland with more favorable burning characteristics
The need to reduce fire hazards in the immediate proximity of these structures and potential evacuation routes is paramount.
Location
The proposed project is comprised of fire fuel mitigation work in the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) Hill Campus.
Project activities will take place within 100 feet[1] of edge of pavement along Stadium Rim Way and Centennial Drive. The location of work is indicated on the attached maps. Note not all portions of Centennial Drive are included in the work. Total acres are 33.3 acres.