Slow Going on Some Road Repairs

It’s been two years since hard rains washed away some roads surrounding Castro Valley. And while some were immediately repaired, others are taking much longer to fix.

During the winter storms of December 31, 2022, and January 2023, creeks flooded, and hillsides washed out, cutting full use of A Street near Knox Street, Crow Canyon near the Contra Costa County border, Lake Chabot Road near Astro Drive, and Redwood Road past the Redwood Canyon Golf Course. 

Of the four roads, federal funding helped quickly repair eastbound A Street along San Lorenzo Creek by the summer of 2023. Later that year, Lake Chabot Road was cleared of debris on the Castro Valley side of the western side of the lake, allowing through traffic to San Leandro through the Bay-o-Vista neighborhood. However, a washout underneath the road near Chabot Terrace and a landslide above Lake Chabot near Astor Drive have yet to be repaired. San Leandro officials are reviewing plans to restore the half-mile stretch of road.

Redwood Road is expected to open at the end of January 2025, and Crow Canyon has no closures, according to Alameda County Public Works Agency (ACPWA) Administrative Specialist Leslie Robertson. 

Redwood Road and Crow Canyon Road have been closed intermittently over the past two years due to maintenance, construction, and storm damage. Currently, there is no through route into Oakland on Redwood Road.

Redwood Road has three areas of failure: two minor and one large. The largest failure was repaired, as scheduled, in November. Previously, drivers on Redwood Road would turn around at the Redwood Canyon Golf Course entrance. ACPWA anticipates that the two smaller failures will be fixed by the end of January 2025. 

All of Redwood Road is expected to open by the end of January 2025, weather permitting, according to an email from Robertson. 

Crow Canyon Road was closed between Mile Marker 5.25 and Bollinger Canyon Road from April 11, 2024, through August 2024. This closure was due to the reconstruction of the roadway and the replacement of three cross culverts. Cross culverts are tunnels that allow water to flow under a road from one side to the other. According to Robertson, ACPWA has finished construction and has no closures on Crow Canyon Road.  

Reopening these roads means more options, other than the freeways, in and out of Castro Valley. 

While rain in the forecast could further delay road repairs, weather experts say more of the wet stuff would be good for this year’s water demands. 

“Overall, it’s been a good start to the water year,” says former KCBS Meteorologist and Weather Producer at KTVU, Mike Pechner. “Less than one-third of the winter season finds storage in the East Bay Water District at a healthy 79 percent of normal, 110 percent of average for this date. The snowpack in the Northern Sierra is around 110 percent of normal. However, it may drop below normal in the first week of January.”