ztmlgr

Just got this alert. Not sure how permanent this is. "Roadway failure" sounds like it might be a while before it is fixed. Note that the alert says bicyclists are advised to avoid the area, not "prohibited".

Advisory: Redwood Road is Closed Between Castro Valley and Oakland


For your traffic planning, we are distributing this information from the Alameda County Public Works Agency:

Redwood Road, Castro Valley, is CLOSED to all traffic at marker 7.38 until further notice due to roadway failure. This closure blocks all access between Castro Valley and Oakland. Motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians are advised to avoid the area and use alternate routes.

This is located approximately 5 miles south of the intersection of Redwood and Pinehurst Roads.

Scarbo

Some more on the closure. That appears to be right at the point where the long descent towards Castro Valley begins. That used to be one of my favorite roads.

Part of Redwood Road closed near Castro Valley due to collapse | KRON4.com

cthenn

Well that sucks! It may keep some of the traffic down on Redwood going toward Oakland, but it also means more traffic on Pinehurst South. The crotch rocket riders are gonna have to find another road, they live out there on weekends.

ztmlgr

Rode out there this afternoon (Friday, 3/31). No problem getting around the closure for bicycles, and I saw at least 1 motorcycle on the closed section. Concrete barriers at Marciel Rd and just below the slide, but you can easily go around them. A less permanent barrier at the bottom of the hill by the Christmas tree farm and you can ride right through that. Nice there was no traffic (except for that motorcycle) on the roughly 2.5 mile closed portion, and very little traffic from the closure to Pinehurst on the north and to the golf course on the south. No work crew on site on this Friday afternoon so nobody to piss off when I went around the barrier, but that may change, who knows. Only half the northbound lane slipped away with the southbound lane still intact, and it looked like they were going to do the usual thing of making it a one-lane road and stick 2 stop signs at either side, but if you look closely at the pavement around the slide, you can see the telltale cracks that indicate the rest of the roadway is on its way over the side, so they probably made the right call in closing the road. My guess is there is no money to fix it so it will probably stay this way for months, or maybe even years.

cthenn

Hmm, sounds good except for the crotch rocket part. If those guys think the road will be completely closed, they may ride even more recklessly than they already do. Cutting over the centerline and maximizing their turns. Enough blind curves to make me nervous. I may try to sneak around it once, but if I encounter a lot of these guys, I may want to reconsider doing it again.

77Eric

I was out there today. I started in Oakland and went through the closure no problem. Then I did Palomares, even though it is also closed. It is closed at milepost 8.79 to ALL traffic. Talked to a guy there and he said it was too dangerous with the work they were doing... so I turned around to go back up Redwood but when I got to the barricade there was a construction truck parked blocking the gap. The guy in the truck wouldn't let me through so I had to turn around there, too. I guess they have decided to really enforce the closure on Redwood.

cthenn

So are they actually starting work on Redwood then? Could you tell if the truck was a county vehicle or private contractor? I'll bet we could still get around on weekends, as they probably aren't working then.

77Eric

I don't think they were working and I didn't notice whether the truck was county, contractor or whatever. You're right though - maybe we can get through on weekends. Hopefully somebody here can check it out and report back... or maybe I'll get down there again.

spdntrxi

lots of ppl are still riding it... including myself this past weekend. You do have to go around a couple barriers.

ztmlgr

Out again this Friday afternoon (4/7/2017) in some light rain. No work crew, no construction trucks, no vehicles of any kind on the closed section and only a few straggler RV's on Redwood south of Pinehurst and by the golf course, and not a single soul (other than me and the wildlife) on the closed section. Ah, solitude! I hope it stays closed for a long time.

shotwellian

Palomares is also officially closed...has anyone attempted to ride through there?

ztmlgr

Rode out again on Redwood today (Friday, 4/14). Sometime in the last week, they piled a bunch of dirt on either side of the concrete barriers they had placed just downhill from the slide. Not sure who they were trying to stop, maybe the cyclists, maybe the motor cycles, maybe both. Anyway, it's easy for us to lift the bike over the concrete barrier but maybe not so easy for the motor cyclists. You could also carry the bike over the pile of dirt but would be a bit yucky with the mud sticking in your shoes, etc. Note that there is no dirt piled on the side of the concrete barrier at Marciel nor at the less permanent barrier down the hill by the Christmas tree farm. Still no sign whatsoever of any work being done and there was no work crew nor any vehicle in the vicinity.

shotwellian

I went yesterday (4/13) and there were workers there who turned me back. They were nice about it at least and said they were surveying the road and that most days for the next while there would be no one there.

ztmlgr

Rode out an back again today (Tuesday afternoon, 4/18) but had the misfortune of crossing a County PW employee. I had seen him sitting in the county truck parked by the side of the road on the way south, just past the slide and the concrete barriers, and he didn't say anything or even look at me. There were no other workers present and no other vehicles. Then, on my way back from the Golf Course, he was there by the Christmas tree farm re-arranging the barriers after he had moved them to get the truck through. I should have just peeled off into the staging area parking lot and waited until he left, but I wasn't thinking fast enough and maybe I had the stupid thought he wouldn't give a **** what I did. So he barks "Road's closed! You can't ride here!" I made a feeble attempt to explain that I had just come this way and nobody said anything, but that didn't go well. "Read the sign! ROAD CLOSED!.. There are cops up there giving out tickets. You wanna get a ticket?" I had seen a CHP unit on the section between Pinehurst and Marciel so I wasn't convinced his ticket threat was a bluff. Anyway, I hung around until he drove off, then went on my way. There were no CHP on the way back and no ticket. So bottom line is I think I may stay away during the weekdays if there's a chance riding on Redwood Road may get confrontational.

ztmlgr

Some new signage appears to have been installed recently at the closure at Marciel. Just for us. We can no longer use the excuse "I thought it was closed only for cars" or even "I don't speak English". I think they're getting serious. As much as I would like to ride on the closed section, it's not worth the stress anymore of not knowing if the CHP or EBRP police are around the next corner. The open section of Redwood from Pinehurst to Marciel is almost car-free and without the stress.

cthenn

Then fix your fu**ing roads! Everything is washing out and in that area, there's really no way to get around by bike. What the hell is the problem with a bike on a road with 1/3 of ONE LANE washed out? I know cyclists feel like they can do whatever they want (I see rides on Strava where people are going through the Alhambra Valley total washout, which is nuts!), but in this case, this is just stupid. Find something better to do, cops, there's a lot of...you know...REAL CRIME! This kind of stuff makes me angry.

BobG063

I have also been riding the closed section midweek about once a week. After reading about potential CHP and tickets I decided to call both the local CHP and Alameda County Public Works. The Sergeant with whom I spoke with at the CHP wasn't aware of the road closure and said there wasn't enough traffic on that road to patrol but they would respond to complaints. Complaints could come from anyone, a contractor or a citizen or Alameda County. She said that she was not personally aware of any complaints but that probably means there hasn't been a flood of them.
The Alameda County Engineer was also very nice and he told me that they are in the process of surveying the damage and obtaining bids. I asked if they have been having a problem with cyclists and he said not that he was aware of. I asked specifically if I could go around the barrier and ride the closed section, I know, what is he going to say right, but he said a closed road is a closed road so it's up to you. But his tone was not: You better stay off that road. He also did not know when they would re-open the road.

jeffy1021

Good thing I checked this, I was planning to ride Redwood Road tomorrow. I guess I'll need to make other plans. Palomares and Redwood Road are my normal go to routes when I happen to have a free Saturday morning...

spdntrxi

I would think less of am issue on Redwood Rd on the weekends

BobG063

I tried a work around this morning on my road bike. From the golf course parking lot there is a dirt road that leads up to Muciel and then on to Redwood above the closure. Its is bit rough and it is a climb but my comact 34/28 did the job no problems. Kind nice being in the woods on a road bike.

cthenn

Nothing much to add, other than I did this road for the first time since the closure. I was actually surprised at the lack of deterrents for cyclists. You check out the Canyon Rd bridge, they are *serious* about that...it's basically impossible to get by. But Redwood was really easy. The barriers at the lower end on the bridge are very easy to ride around or through. I even saw some people walking around them. I was expecting a lot more...in fact if a vehicle wanted to, they could easily just move aside the barricades and be on their way. The K-rails by the actual slide were the "most difficult" to get around. There's been so many bikes coming through, the dirt pile is almost knocked completely down. I would have ridden it, but I was coming up on it fast and didn't know what to expect. Again, at the top by Marciel, there are another set of K-rails, but again, easy to ride around. No dirt piles here. Not a soul around, although about a quarter mile after heading from Marciel, an EBRPD truck drove by. Didn't stop or anything, but I was a bit surprised to see a work truck on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.

I think this road will be fine to ride, probably best done on Sunday. I did see some evidence of work at the slide location, so you never know when you'll run into people if you try it midweek.

cthenn

Rode Redwood today. No sign of work. I rode through on 5/28 ^^^^^^^, and since then, the road looks basically the same. There's evidence they've started something, but since my last ride, looks no different. ACPW tried to pile up more dirt around the concrete barriers at the actual slide, but it's still easy to get around. Had to dismount because the dirt is kinda loose, and it's not worth it to me to fall in order to stay clipped in. The barrier at Marciel is very easy to ride around. Disappointed they haven't done any work, but then again as long as no one is working on the weekends, it's actually nicer to be on that road with no cars.

BobG063

From Alameda County of Public Works:

"Our engineers are completing the design plans, and we anticipate they will be advertised for bid at the end of June/beginning of July. Once the construction contract is awarded, the repair work will take approximately 2 – 3 months to complete.

Again, we sincerely thank you (and the cycling community) for your patience. "

Perhaps a few more emails to ACPW requesting them to please review the bicycle closure might get them to reconsider. There is more than ample roadway for cyclists to pass that is safe. Be polite and respectful but it always good that they hear directly from us.

Info@acpwa.org

Nanci Erven-Collins
Alameda County Public Works Agency
Public Information Officer / Legislative Liaison
399 Elmhurst Street
Hayward, CA 94544
(510) 670-6477

BobG063

PS. Might be helpful if more of us wrote to ACPW and asked them to please reconsider the bicycle ban as there is more than ample roadway that is safe for a cyclist to pass.

email:
Info@acpwa.org
Nanci Erven-Collins
Alameda County Public Works Agency
Public Information Officer / Legislative Liaison
399 Elmhurst Street
Hayward, CA 94544
(510) 670-6477

cthenn

Thanks Bob for that info. I doubt they'd allow it to be open during work hours, as contractor vehicles, possibly heavy equipment, etc will be on site, and likely block the entire road. Perhaps a compromise would allow for cyclists to ride during the weekend, but I wouldn't count on it. Based on my limited knowledge (but some experience), it's hard to tell if this is just a simple embankment failure, or a true slip out. The way the road was slumping and had a crack/fissure around the perimeter of the affected area, I'm leaning more toward slip out. If it is a slip out, then they will likely have to dig down below the slide plane to find competent dirt/rock before rebuilding the road. That would probably entail digging up more of the road, who knows how far the slide goes. If it's a simple embankment failure, they may just build some kind of block wall, and patch up the road. My guess is the repair could be a lot more involved than simply fixing the portion which is already cracked/failed. I'm just going to monitor this site and Strava to see if cyclists are still getting through, although I might go try to sneak through on a weekend to at least check it out, once they get started.