RE-OPEN LAKE CHABOT ROAD

Background
The closure of Lake Chabot Road is due to significant damage caused by a severe winter storm in December 2022, which led to the need for stabilization and repair. The road was closed to all vehicle traffic between Chabot Terrace and Astor Drive as part of a two-phase project aimed at repairing the embankment and roadway damage

Phase 1 – Slide Locations 1 & 4
Phase 1 of the Lake Chabot Road Stabilization and Repair Project will repair the embankment, hillside and roadway damage at Slide Locations 1 and 4 using funds secured through a federal grant from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The Project is currently in the design and environmental permitting phase. Construction of the repairs is anticipated to begin in Summer 2026 and be completed by Summer 2027. Unfortunately, due to the additional damage to the roadway at Slide Locations 2 and 3, Lake Chabot Road will not be opened to two-way traffic after the completion of Phase 1.

Phase 2 – Slide Locations 2 & 3
The stabilization and repair of the embankment and roadway settlement observed at Slide Locations 2 and 3 remain unfunded. Staff continues to pursue outside funding sources to complete the design and perform the necessary repairs at Slides 2 and 3 to allow the roadway to be re-opened to two-way traffic. To learn more about the project, please visit the City of San Leandro website:  https://www.sanleandro.org/1491/Lake-Chabot-Road-Stabilization-Repair-Ph

Concerns for Bay-O-Vista Residents
It has now been more than three years since a storm damaged Lake Chabot Road at two locations. The very next day, City staff “temporarily” closed the road and it has remained close ever since. 

Lake Chabot Road is not a minor roadway. Before the closure, several thousand relied on it daily. More importantly, it serves as a critical emergency evacuation route for San Leandro residents living in the high wildfire risk area. In an emergency, where seconds matter, access to Lake Chabot Road could be a matter of life and death.

Aside from the two damaged sections, the rest of the road is drivable. City staff initially prepared the roadway to allow alternating one-way traffic using the undamaged lane, but that plan was later abandoned.  Alternatively, the City fenced off the two damaged sections (approximately one-third of a mile of Lake Chabot Road), acknowledging its importance as an evacuation route by installing bendable bollards instead of locked gates. These bollards prevented normal vehicle traffic but still allowed bicycles and pedestrians to pass through and could be driven over in an emergency preserving a potential escape route.

Recently, those bollards were removed and replaced with locked gates. Residents were not notified.  The City’s website provides no information.  The City Manager has not addressed the change publicly, and there is no indication the Mayor or City Council were informed or consulted.

We need the City to reopen Lake Chabot Road now!  As we have seen from the devastating Los Angeles fires, we need every evacuation route to be open and free from any barriers. We need the Road opened NOW with at least one-way downhill traffic, with stop signs at either end to slow down traffic until the City fixes the road permanently for two-way traffic. This is a critical evacuation route for hundreds of homes.  Without it, residents will be stuck in place with a back-up of vehicles trying to get onto Benedict.  Residential vehicles will be competing with ambulances needed to evacuate approximately 80 very ill patients from Kindred Hospital at the end of Benedict.  The locked gates that now exist preventing traffic on Lake Chabot Road are not safe for evacuating residents or first responders. They could easily create a death trap for panicking residents and make access challenging or slow for first responders. 

Help us get Lake Chabot Re-Opened by:

  • Sign the petition to the City on openlakechabotroad.com .
  • Stay ready to come to the next important City Council meeting. We will let you know when.
  • Numbers count!  We need your help to get this done!  There are people that want to see Lake Chabot Road closed permanently.

If you would like to volunteer to help, or have any questions or concerns, please email Kat @ katwellman54@gmail.com .