Lake Chabot Road Closure Longer Than Expected
Courtesy San Leandro Engineering & Transportation Department.
San Leandro would very much like these houses on Astor Court, and Lake Chabot Road below, to stay put after recent rains.
Lake Chabot Road is likely to stay closed along most of its length for longer than first realized, according to San Leandro’s Engineering & Transportation Department.
A reopening is unlikely before this summer or fall on the San Leandro end of the road near Interstate 580, according to department officials speaking at a February 1 city council committee meeting. It could even take into 2024 in one area near Interstate 580, they said.
It has not been announced how long it will take to repair the Alameda County end, closer to Fairmont Drive in Castro Valley.
County Public Works officials, asked at another meeting about the damage to that road and others, said the latest rains have further slowed down needed repairs. They promised details soon on what work was needed to reopen the roads.
Hillside erosion that endangers houses and the road itself is the problem at the San Leandro end of the road. Engineering & Transportation believes the problem at the county end is the road being undermined by the rains.
San Leandro’s announcement was bad news for the many residents of the city’s Bay-O-Vista neighborhood. Along with some residents of Castro Valley and the nearby Oakland neighborhood of Sheffield Village, they had packed the meeting of the city council’s Facilities & Transportation Committee.
Most were there about another issue, EBMUD’s plans to redevelop the old quarry site just off that road, but the road repairs came up first on the agenda.
San Leandro city crews immediately started work stabilizing the endangered hillside, near Astor Drive, with tarps and began planning longer-term repairs. There are two areas where erosion presents a danger, said John O’Driscoll, associate engineer with the city.
One is the area near Astor Drive, where hillside erosion is marked clearly by blue tarps used to control it. However, the road has not been undermined.
The other is further downhill near Chabot Terrace, closer to the freeway. There the erosion is right at the road itself, undermining the road.
For the area near Astor Drive, a consultant will prepare repair plans, O’Driscoll said. These will likely involve using much larger boulders than now, while improvements to the upper slope will safely convey stormwater away.
According to the department, these repairs are estimated to cost $400,000 to $600,000 and take until at least May to June of this year.
The area near Chabot Terrace will cost more, an estimated $4 million, and take longer to repair, potentially during the dry months of 2024, O’Driscoll said.
A consultant will determine if it is safe to reopen the road before both sets of repairs are done. Repairs will require road closure during actual construction activities, according to the department.
The committee had previously asked the department to survey the neighborhood about possibly restricting Lake Chabot Road to pedestrian and bicycle use. Department staff said at the February 1 meeting that this change would perhaps make repairs quicker and cheaper, but they would still have to be made. They noted that the road had needed stabilization work even before the rains.
O’Driscoll said, responding to a question from Councilmember Fred Simon, that the department has not yet identified the funding to pay for all the Lake Chabot Road repairs.