Oakland Hills landslide continues to threaten Tunnel Road after 8 years
Oakland, California - Tunnel Road sits above all four of the Caldecott Tunnel bores. Eight years of unaddressed erosion threaten to bring part of the road itself down. Like all steep roadside landslides, it's only a matter of time before this could take out the road.
In 2016, a landslide occurred at the corner of Tunnel Road and Bay Forest Place in the Oakland Hills during torrential rains. Now, years later, it remains unrepaired and getting wider and deeper into and under Tunnel Road.
"The road is near complete collapse and that would close the road here and it's really time that the city paid attention to this problem and fix the roads so it stays open for the safety and use of the residents." said Bay Forest Place resident John Corlett.
What would have been a simpler and far cheaper repair years ago is now a widening and worsening gaping maw.
"Underneath those tarps, the hill is still eroding and the water flowing down here is getting under the tarps and still washing away the land underneath the road," said Mr. Corlett.
Residents of the Oakland Hills worry about the stability of Tunnel Road. (KTVU FOX 2)
The problem is way more manageable now than if it gets bigger. With six weeks left of the rainy season, it's likely to get a lot bigger. If it collapses, the Bay Forest neighborhood could be cut off from this heavily traveled road.
"Access for emergency vehicles is absolutely critical up here. We remain in a high fire hazard zone," said Corlett.
Patrick Dawkins, another resident of the area wrote, "We have gotten nowhere contacting the city of Oakland!!"
Corlett "The responses we get from communications with the city is that they're in some planning process and eventually this would get fixed," said Corlett.
Residents of the Oakland Hills worry about the stability of Tunnel Road. (KTVU FOX 2)
On Monday, eight years into this mess, they got an update. "They said that they would complete an engineering study that was started late last year and that construction would start in the summer of this year," said Corlett.
In the interim, Tunnel Road has seen two other slides open up, threatening other sections of the road.