CHP Offices Moving to Hayward
photo courtesy of CHP
CHP Castro Valley office in the Castro Valley Plaza business park off of Redwood Road.
The California Highway Patrol is planning on shutting down its Castro Valley offices and moving into a new facility in Hayward beginning in late 2023, a CHP spokesman said last Thursday.
Sometime in October or November 2023, the CHP will consolidate the Castro Valley and Hayward offices on Whipple Road into a new facility at the southeast corner of Jackson and Santa Clara Streets in Hayward. Currently in the early stages of clearing and construction, when finished, the new CHP office will house 100 officers. The building is expected to feature on-site holding cells, an updated evidence room, and gated parking for staff and officers.
“The new state-of-the-art facility will help us better provide our communities with the highest level of safety, service, and security throughout Castro Valley, Hayward, and the unincorporated areas,” Officer Dan Jacowitz told the Forum. “We will still have a large presence on the highways and protecting the areas we serve in Castro Valley and people will see us out in force just as much as they do now.”
The current office on Redwood Road near Norbridge Avenue has been home to the CHP since 2004. Approximately 30 to 35 uniformed officers and support staff are stationed there. In addition to being a hub for patrol vehicles and strategically located near Interstate 580, the station is a community hub that provides services like child safety seat installation instruction and educational programs geared towards new drivers.
At any given time, as many as six patrol officers are roaming the highways around Castro Valley conducting traffic enforcement and collision investigation, Officer Jacowitz said. He added that the consolidation is also a long-term way for California taxpayers to save money as the Castro Valley Building has been leased for 18 years and the new site is owned by the state.
“We understand that people will have to travel a little further to do business with the CHP at the new offices, but we are committed to providing the same services as before,” Officer Jacowitz said.
Officers hosted out of Castro Valley protect approximately 470 miles of unincorporated county roadways located within the communities of Castro Valley, San Lorenzo, Ashland, Cherryland, and Fairview, which are comprised of approximately 130,000 residents.
Officers at the Whipple office in Hayward patrol 35 miles of major arterial freeways, including Interstate 880 and Interstate 238, as well as State Highways 84, 92, and 262 in Warm Springs. Road patrol officers handle approximately 2500 collisions per year in one of the Bay Area’s smallest jurisdictions. The Hayward Area CHP is also responsible for patrolling several state facilities, including the California School for the Deaf and Blind, the Fremont and Hayward offices of the Department of Motor Vehicles, various Caltrans facilities, and offices of State Senators and Assemblypersons.