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Mill Valley Prepares Large‑Scale Evacuation Drill April 26 to Test LRAD, Routes and County Coordination
Summary
City emergency staff briefed council on an April 26 evacuation drill and public safety fair that will test LRAD alerts, contraflow staging on Miller Avenue, and new evacuation routing methods developed from a multi‑year Google traffic study. County and multiple agency partners will participate; staff aim to collect operational data to validate assumptions.
Mill Valley officials told the council April 21 that the city will hold an expanded evacuation drill and public safety fair on April 26 to test large‑scale alerting, traffic control and regional coordination.
Emergency management staff said the exercise will be the largest evacuation drill Marin County has staged for the area and will test the city’s Alert Marin notifications, the LRAD public‑address system, and staged contraflow procedures on Miller Avenue. The city asked residents to RSVP so exercise coordinators can manage turnout; staff reported more than 100 signups and a target of at least 400 participants.
Presenters described two operational concepts the city will evaluate: the ‘‘Hamilton shortcut,’’ a reroute intended to better use all four outbound corridors, and a ‘‘Super CRA’’ (super community refuge area) concept designed to temporarily hold large numbers of vehicles at sites such as Bayfront Park and Tamalpais High School if freeway access is constrained. The city is partnering with CHP, Tiburon and Sausalito police departments, the National Park Service, Marin County search and rescue, county CERT volunteers and other agencies to staff the command post and test procedures.
Former mayor and council advisers briefed the council on a Google‑supported traffic study that modeled evacuation timelines and informed the Hamilton shortcut and Super CRA concepts; staff said the exercise will generate data to confirm model assumptions and to identify gaps in instructions and staging.
Council members asked detailed operational questions about timing, contraflow implementation for the drill (noting some contraflow elements are for future full‑scale operations and would not be used in the exercise), and public messaging. Staff emphasized the drills’ emphasis on ‘‘muscle memory’’ and preparing households for red‑flag conditions, recommending residents plan routes, pack go‑bags and sign up for Alert Marin.
Next steps: the city will finalize logistics with partner agencies, continue public outreach (including QR codes and signups during the event), and compile drill data for follow‑up analysis and possible refinements to evacuation routing and refuge area use.
