Lower Halkin Walk was a “missing link” between Spruce and Grizzly Peak.
This past month, volunteer crews finished Berkeley’s newest path: Lower Halkin Walk. All 145 steps are in and this beautiful new path is ready for you to enjoy! Lower Halkin, from Cragmont Avenue to Euclid Avenue, was a “missing link” path, and completes a pedestrian corridor from Grizzly Peak Blvd to Spruce Street in the area north of Marin Avenue. It opens up new possibilities for fun walks and loops in the hills and secures a pedestrian option for emergency evacuations in this area. For the history buffs, the upper segment, from Euclid to Hilldale, was completed by BPWA in 2014.
This path came together rather quickly; it took about a year from the first planning meetings with the neighbors to the time the last step went in. It all started with a prompt from Berkeley Councilmember Susan Wengraf, who facilitated discussions with path neighbors and our path-building lead, Charlie Bowen. The lower neighbors’ old fences blocked access to the path, and there was also a large, compromised eucalyptus in the path right-of-way.
This huge eucalyptus halfway up the path had to come down before work could get started.
Wengraf asked if BPWA could arrange for a path survey while she looked into arranging for the City to remove the tree. We funded the survey in December 2019 and neighbors agreed to remove the encroaching fences shortly after. The tree removal was approved, but due to COVID-related delays, the tree was not removed until later in the summer. In preparation for the tree removal work by City contractors, our volunteers removed boulders and overgrown vegetation and cleared the bottom half of the path.
Once the tree was removed, step placement and trail construction could proceed. For safety reasons, volunteers divided up in small teams of 2 to 3 people each and set up multiple worksites along the length of the path. They met up twice weekly and worked for the next 5 months. In total, 145 new steps were placed, including beautiful spirals on the steepest section toward Euclid Avenue. Because of the path’s steep incline, BPWA is looking into installing handrails throughout. We were quoted over $24,000 for the handrail project and are hoping to finance it later this year. In the meantime, the path is ready for you enjoy. It sure is a beautiful new trail. We hope you will have fun exploring it!
Special thanks to Councilmember Wengraf, the path neighbors, and dedicated volunteers Charlie Bowen, Steve Glaeser, Francesca Verdier, Bob Gomez, Diane Resek, Rob Strong, and David Kittams. BPWA members George and Sheri Clyde also took on a good portion of the survey costs. We are immensely grateful to them and all of our donors, without whom this work would not be possible.
Your support helps us build paths
Spirals steps at the top of Lower Halkin Walk
With Lower Columbia Path completed earlier this year, and now recently completed Lower Halkin Path, BPWA is proud to have finished two challenging new paths (despite this crazy year)! None of our work would be possible without your support. If you enjoy walking the paths, please consider supporting our work so we can keep building paths like these. Each eucalyptus step is $25 and a path with a 50-foot rise needs 100 of them. A new path also needs to be surveyed, a $1,500 to $3,500 expense. Handrails are the most expensive item on our wish list: $15,000 to $25,000 per path. Please consider making the paths part of your year-end contributions. We are a nonprofit organization that is 100% volunteer-run, so every dollar of your tax-deductible gift goes toward our cherished paths. Thank you for supporting the paths! Click here to donate now!