Wildfire Evacuation

Dangerous Wildfire Evacuation Bottlenecks

The revised 163-unit El Jebel (EJ) Crossing development plan introduces a severe and potentially lethal hazard to our community's emergency response and evacuation capabilities. While the developer has expanded the project size by 46% (from 111 to 163 units), the infrastructure fails to support the massive increase in density.

The Single-Access Funnel Effect According to the developer's own engineering narrative, all 163 units are designed to funnel all primary access and daily traffic exclusively through a single exit at JW Drive. While the site plans show alternative access points at Gillespie Drive and Jaci Lane, these are explicitly designated as "secondary emergency access" only. Because these secondary exits are kept locked behind emergency breakaway barriers (gates), they offer absolutely no daily traffic relief and force all vehicles into one chokepoint.

A Lethal Evacuation Hazard In a fast-moving wildfire, forcing hundreds of residents through a single-access funnel creates a lethal bottleneck. This restricted design traps not only the new high-density EJ Crossing residents, but also creates a catastrophic barrier for our neighbors in Blue Lake and those attempting to evacuate from Missouri Heights above.

Gridlocking a Failing Intersection Adding to this extreme hazard is the fact that the primary access point at JW Drive and Highway 82 is already officially documented as operating at a failing capacity, known as "Level of Service (LOS) F" gridlock. Funneling an estimated 1,000+ additional daily vehicle trips from this 163-unit development into an already dead-stop intersection is a recipe for disaster. During a synchronized evacuation, this single failing intersection will severely gridlock the corridor, trapping evacuees and delaying fire engines and ambulances when every second counts.

Conclusion Forcing an urban-density development into an area that physically lacks the roadway infrastructure to support it does not solve a housing crisis—it creates a severe life-safety and emergency egress crisis. You cannot build a high-density development without providing the necessary emergency exits to protect the community.