Improving Berkeley Hills Paths

We're the Terrace View Alliance, a collective of neighborhood groups representing the part of the Berkeley Hills that is just north of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. We're partnering with Berkeley Path Wanderers Association and their fiscal sponsor, Berkeley Partners for Parks, to create and preserve Berkeley's public paths, steps and walkways in this part of the city.

Specifically, we're fundraising in order to increase access for the part of the Berkeley Hills in the Terrace View area. While Berkeley has good coverage in other areas, we need to improve the safety of existing pathways and add new routes to give Terrace View residents more recreational paths and evacuation routes. In the event of a wildfire, the city of Berkeley will need road access for emergency vehicles and fire trucks, and so the walking pathways are the suggested evacuation routes in the city's Local Hazard Mitigation Plan. 

These paths are not solely recreational; they will be vital for evacuation in the case of wildfires and earthquakes.

"Installing handrails makes our path network safer and easier to use for everyone. In terms of bang for your buck, this is the best thing we can do right now and for a small cost to ensure that we and our neighbors in the hills can get to safety, if that becomes necessary,” says Susan Wengraf, Berkeley's District Six Councilmember.


Our fundraising target is $70,000. This will enable us to add handrails to the most popular paths to make them safer for residents, especially those who might be mobility impaired or elderly. It will also help us complete Columbia Path and potentially build Del Mar Path. Feel free to give whatever you feel comfortable with, but we are confident we can make the first $50,000 goal if every household donated at least $100.

Glendale Path:
- Complete handrail coverage, including the middle and upper sections: $10,000 to 15,000 in estimated costs
- Re-build the top of Lower Glendale Path

Atlas Path:
- Add handrails: $10,000 in estimated costs.

Columbia Path:
- Add railings to Columbia path on the very steep Queens Road to Campus Drive section.
- Completely build out the lower part of the path. We estimate it will cost $20,000 in total to build the path out. This cost would include $5,000 for the steps at $25 per step, $3,000 in engineering costs, and then railings at $12,000. The $2,000 cost of surveying the path has already been donated. 

Wilson Walk:
- Add handrails: $15,000 in estimated costs

Del Mar Path:
- Building the path would cost $3,000 to 5,000 at 2 steps per foot and $25 per step. 
- If we added handrails, it would cost $15,000 in total.

For this project, the Terrace View Alliance is partnering with the Berkeley Paths Wanderers Association, an all-volunteer association that maintains the city's 136 existing pathways from the flats through the hills, and up into Tilden Park.  Their trained volunteers also build and maintain new paths on previously inaccessible city-owned rights of way. 

BPWA's non-profit status is maintained through the Berkeley Partners for Parks, their fiscal sponsor.  Our partnership will ensure that your donations dollars stretch far.  Money raised will be used for materials and for professional services only when needed and for concerns like handrail installation and engineering services.  BPWA volunteers will manage and coordinate each project, purchase the steps, provide tools, and install the steps at no cost.

All donations to Berkeley Partners for Parks are tax-deductible.