Mayor Sam Exclusive: The Deadly Consequences of Road Diets by Christopher LeGras

In the deadly aftermath of the Camp Fire which destroy the Town of Paradise, Writer Christopher D. LeGras reports on the fatal consequences of a recently-installed "Road Diet" in the town that was contrary to the need for more highway evacuation capacity, as noted in a 2008 Butte County Grand Jury Investigation.

Line of burnt cars along a Single Lane Evacuation Route in Paradise California.

** Blogger's Note: In a Mayor Sam Exclusive, we present the following missive via Writer Christopher D. LeGras, who discloses the fatal consequences of the destroyed Town of Paradise's decision to install a Vision Zero-Type Road Diet along its primary traffic artery. Like the recent Sunland Tujunga Brush Fires, Road Diet constrictions caused life-threatening issues with the speedy flow of evacuees out of the danger areas. As more municipalities ponder Road Diets in their respective areas, they we be advise to read the following ..........., and reconsider after the lessons of the Camp Fire, are truly vetted----Scott Johnson.  
                                                                              

As the Humboldt Fire ravaged Butte County in 2008 evacuations out of the communities of Paradise and Magalia bogged down in gridlock. Fleeing residents were trapped in their cars, flames boiling on both sides of the road. Many fled on foot, barely escaping with their lives.

Butte County is wildfire country, mountainous terrain where the next conflagration isn’t a matter of if but when. When the fires come the lives of a quarter million people depend on evacuating along an extremely limited road and highway network in which every square foot of space becomes critical.

After the 2008 fire a grand jury investigation identified serious constraints on the region’s evacuation routes. Their final report noted there are only four roads of escape for 40,000 people in Paradise, Magalia, and Upper Ridge, three of which are narrow, two lane mountain roads. Those roads have “significant constraints limiting their use as evacuation routes during a major event, especially another event of multiple fires.”

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