Several roads and parking lots commonly used as viewpoints for the Fourth of July fireworks in the Berkeley Hills will be closed this year due to high fire danger, University of California Police reported.
Popular fireworks shows in the Bay Area are canceled this year due to COVID-19, including an annual event at the Berkeley Marina, but illegal fireworks celebrations have continued. UCPD said crowding at viewpoints and turnouts in the area have also led to illegal parking and delays for emergency services in the past.
The closures will last from 5 a.m. on Saturday, July 4, to 5 a.m. on Sunday, July 5, and span from Centennial Drive between Grizzly Peak Boulevard and Stadium Rim Way in Berkeley, and down Grizzly Peak Boulevard to Claremont Avenue and Fish Ranch Road in Oakland. Residents of the neighborhoods will be allowed in the area.
Parking lots will be closed at the Lawrence Hall of Science, including its vista point, Space Sciences Laboratory, and east lot, and the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute terrace and Botanical Gardens.
The University Avenue ramp to the Berkeley Marina will also be closed to vehicle access, but pedestrians and bicyclists will be allowed.
