A section of Wildcat Canyon Road in Berkeley is undergoing repairs after a mudslide last winter.
Contra Costa County Public WorksA 2.5-mile stretch of Wildcat Canyon Road that winds through the Berkeley Hills has been shut down due to damage from multiple mudslides since late March, and officials say the road will not be open any time soon.
The section of road between Inspiration Point and San Pablo Dam Road is not expected to reopen to motorists and cyclists until fall 2025 as extensive repairs are needed after a portion of the road “fell down the cliff,” said Jenna Caldwell, an engineer with Contra Costa County Public Works and the project’s manager.
What’s more, a section of the road between Park Hills Road and Shasta Road that closed Oct. 24 for emergency slope repair will remain closed to traffic until Nov. 14, the city of Berkeley said. Detours have been put in place.
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Caldwell said the agency recently received federal funding for the reconstruction work on the 2.5-mile stretch of roadway that will cost about $4 million.
“We have to submit paperwork to get the funds allocated,” Caldwell said. “Then we need to get environmental clearance, and that process takes at least a year. Those are the critical paths to starting construction. We’re currently working on the design. We’re getting everything lined up so we can get started as soon as we get those environmental clearances.”
The environmental clearance involves assessing which plants and animals could be affected by construction and determining how to mitigate impacts to protect those species. Construction, which will involve building a retaining wall to stabilize the embankment and then constructing a new road, is slated to start in May 2025.
A section of Wildcat Canyon Road in Berkeley is undergoing repairs after a mudslide last winter.
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Wildcat Canyon runs through Tilden Regional Park and connects the cities of Berkeley and Orinda. Caldwell said she’d describe it as a “regularly used road.” It’s frequently used by cyclists and hikers to access trailheads off the road. During the road closure, you can access the Inspiration Point trailhead from the Berkeley side.
The mudslides occurred during an unusually wet winter. A mudslide in January initially closed one lane of the road, and after multiple mudslides in March, both lanes were closed.