Press Release for the New (Fourth) Edition
of the Map of Berkeley’s Pathways

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts: Sandy Friedland (510-655-5773)
Charlie Bowen (510-540-7223)

New Berkeley Pathways Map Adds Street Index

BERKELEY, Calif, August 21, 2007. Berkeley Path Wanderers Association (BPWA) has released an improved version of its popular map, a passport to the picturesque public stairways, ramps, and footpaths that crisscross the city. The new 4 th edition of the map adds a complete index of Berkeley streets, making the map more useful to UC Berkeley students, new residents, and visitors.     

Printed on durable, waterproof paper, the easy-to-read BPWA map shows all the 135 numbered, city-owned walkways. They provide convenient shortcuts to schools, shopping, and public transportation as well as tranquil walking routes. Paths also are key evacuation routes in emergencies.

“If your main interest is the pathways, then the Berkeley Path Wanderers’ map is a must-have,” says Heath Maddox, the city's Associate Transportation Planner in charge of the Bicycle and Pedestrian programs. He adds that the pathways can be hard to find on more detailed, smaller scale maps of the city.

The new BPWA map distinguishes between the paths that are passable and those are not. It also adds five newly completed paths and includes more paths in East Shore State Park and Strawberry Canyon than did earlier editions. Recently opened sections of the Santa Fe Right of Way also are shown, making it easier for pedestrians to go from University Avenue in Berkeley to Richmond. Berkeley artist Karen Kemp did the cover design, which features her painting of Visalia Steps.

Walkways that are not part of the official Berkeley path system but are open to the public are also included, such as those on the UC campus, in lower Tilden Park, and around Aquatic Park. Existing and historic creeks also are shown.

“Paths are great for Berkeley,” Maddox says. “They promote walking in areas that otherwise are not all that pedestrian friendly because of steep grades, winding roadways, and the lack of a complete sidewalk network.”

The five newly completed paths (Glendale, Cedar, Poppy, Upper Covert, and Whitaker ) were among the many city-owned right-of-ways that were set aside for pedestrian use in the early 1900’s but never built. As cars became more common, momentum to finish the path system diminished. Over the years, those unfinished paths became increasingly difficult to use - or even to find - as brambles took over or neighbors incorporated them into their yards. Path Wanderer volunteers have cleared and installed wooden steps on 22 of the originally platted paths and are working to complete others.

“Proceeds from map sales support our path building efforts,” notes Sandy Friedland, BPWA president, “and the maps help to get more people onto the paths. It’s a win-win situation.”

The 4.2 earthquake that jolted Berkeley residents awake July 20, reminded hill dwellers that the paths not only are a pleasant respite from streets and historic remnants of car-free days but also are vital evacuation and access routes in emergencies. When roads were blocked in the 1991 Berkeley-Oakland firestorm, the paths behind the Claremont Hotel enabled firefighters to reach the blaze. Following that fire, Berkeley commissioned a survey of the path system and added a budget line for path maintenance in 2000. In 2005, the city allocated $74,000 of a Fire Prevention and Safety grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to build a concrete stairway and railing on the top portion of Glendale Path. It took nearly two more years for Berkeley Path Wanderers and two local Boy Scout troops to finish the rest of the three-part path.

The newest paths are the result of such teamwork. “Volunteers did almost all the work, in cooperation with the City,” says Charlie Bowen, BPWA Path-Building Leader. “We are delighted that Berkeley officials support community hands-on involvement. It's a good way to get things accomplished in our era of limited City funds.”   

Path building has attracted a wide range of community volunteers.   For example, the completion of Cedar Path, which runs between La Loma Avenue and La Vereda Road, was managed by 17-year-old Shifra deBenedictis-Kessner to satisfy her service requirement in high school. She recruited friends to work with her for 13 consecutive Sundays. Employees from the Berkeley REI store kicked off the improvements on Poppy Path, and BPWA volunteers finished it.

Thanks to the recently completed paths, walking through the Berkeley hills is now easier. Cedar Path, for one, enables employees of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to walk to work. The three sections of Glendale Path connect Campus Drive, Queens Road, and Fairlawn Drive, creating a convenient route to the Selby Trail in Tilden from the neighborhood around Glendale-La Loma Park. And the two parts of Covert Path join Keith, Cragmont, and Keeler Avenues, providing another link in a series of paths that stretch from Euclid Avenue to Grizzly Peak Blvd. and reduce the need to walk on streets.

The 4 th edition of the BPWA map sells for $6.95 and can be ordered with forms on the Path Wanderers website (www.berkeleypaths.org). It will also be available at the Berkeley Path Wanderers booth at the Solano Stroll on September 9 and the Spice of Life Festival October 14. The maps also are sold at bookstores throughout Berkeley as well as at shops that sell maps and outdoor gear.

Berkeley Path Wanderers is an all-volunteer organization with more than 550 member households. It began in 1998, when four Berkeley residents decided to help preserve and maintain the public paths and stairways and encourage more people to use them. The group produced its first edition of its Berkeley pathways map in May, 2002, after members walked every street in the city to verify the locations of paths and intersections. By July, the map had made the local Top Ten List for non-fiction bestsellers. A second edition was published in 2003 and a third in 2005. In all, the Path Wanderers have sold more than 17,000 maps.

Annual membership in the Path Wanderers is $5. The organization offers two volunteer-led path walks a month, open to members and nonmembers at no charge.   It also sponsors programs about Berkeley history and its environment, publishes a quarterly newsletter, and maintains a website that includes directions for self-guided path walks.

Berkeley Path Wanderers Association is an affiliate of Berkeley Partners for Parks.