A Street Closure

Due to major flooding from February’s storms, many roads in the Bay Area have been closed, including A street in Hayward. The road has been closed since late December last year and is scheduled to reopen sometime in the middle of March 2023 according to the Hayward Police Department and the Public Works Agency of Alameda. 

The recent storms in the beginning of this year have had different side effects on the state of California. An increase in potholes on the streets and flooding has caused multiple roads to be closed as well as causing sinkholes to open up across the Bay Area. 

One of these sinkholes, which opened near San Lorenzo Creek in Castro Valley, is what caused A St. to collapse after a storm on New Year’s Eve. The soil that stood against the creek was oversaturated with rainwater and eroded away, causing major damage to the street as well as people’s homes and backyards that were adjacent to it. 

Michelle Smith, a Castro Valley resident, had this to say when asked by reporters at KRON: “I’m worried about the roads and the properties and the people that live near it. There’s a lot of houses that have their backyards against this creek.”

Smith’s concerns are valid according to meteorologists, who say that residents should remain cautious as most of the soil is still extremely waterlogged and at risk of flooding. “The ground is still saturated. There’s still going to be plenty of chance for runoff and localized flooding,” says Colby Goatley, a National Weather Service meteorologist, who urges people to keep paying attention during this time.

Street view of sink hole closed off with fencing. Residents home on the other side of fence. Trees and yard demolished by sink hole.

Similar to what happened on A St., a situation occurred on Faircliffe St. in Hayward in mid-January where a large section of the hillside eroded due to the heavy rainfall. While no roads ended up being affected by this, the mudslide caused by this erosion left at least one house on Faircliffe uninhabitable. 

More of these incidents have occurred since January as California has continued to experience heavy rainfall and has caused a lot of problems for the city administrators as well as its citizens. Besides A St. being closed, the following roads near Hayward are under construction and will be closed until further notice according to the Public Works Agency of Alameda: Foothill Rd., Lake Chabot Rd., Kilkare Rd. and many others. 

Fortunately, as of Mar. 6, many of these roads have been reopened — especially those in Castro Valley — including Crow Canyon Rd., Eden Canyon Rd. and Redwood Rd. which also suffered from a large sinkhole in early January of this year. However, residents on A St. will have to wait a little longer for things to go back to normal in their neighborhoods.

Fenced off section divides A St. to keep drivers and pedestrians safe from sink hole. Cars having to navigate around the structure.
Image courtesy of Tom Lothian

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