Santa Clara County suffered an estimated $15.4 million in damage to local roadways during the winter storms that doused the West Coast in the first three months of the year, according to county officials.
The initial storms during the end of December 2022 and throughout January 2023 resulted in an estimated $7.3 million in damages across 10 locations, including closures of Mines Road and Bear Creek Road.
Additional storms in February and March caused damage in 10 additional locations, including culvert failures, erosion of roadway and slope foundations, new landslides and reactivated past landslides due to overly saturated soils, according to a report from the county’s Roads and Airports Department presented April 18 to the county Board of Supervisors.
While most roads damaged during the storms have been repaired and at least partially reopened, Bear Creek Road, Old Santa Cruz Highway, Clayton Road and Aldercroft Heights Road have all remained closed to traffic since March.
According to the Roads and Airports Department, repairs at Mines Road are ongoing while repairs to Bear Creek Road and Old Santa Cruz Highway will begin “as soon as possible.”
Repairs to Clayton Road and Aldercroft Heights Road are expected to take longer, as landslides have undermined both roadways and will require geotechnical analysis and stabilization before they can safely reopen to traffic.
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