A repaired portion of Wildcat Canyon Road. Courtesy: Contra Costa County Public Works
Update, Jan. 5: The stretch of Wildcat Canyon Road between Inspiration Point and San Pablo Dam Road that was closed by a landslide in March 2023 reopened last month.
“We recognized the importance of repairing this critical connector between the El Sobrante and Orinda communities with Berkeley and Tilden Regional Park areas,” Warren Lai, Contra Costa County’s public works director, said in a statement on Dec. 18. “Restoring access was a top priority, and we appreciate the public’s patience.”
Wildcat Canyon Road may reopen by December
Original story, Sept. 12, 2025: It’s been over two years since a portion of Wildcat Canyon Road was shutdown due to a landslide in the area, west of its intersection with San Pablo Dam Road. The closure cut off an access route below Tilden’s Inspiration Point that was used by Berkeley Hills residents traveling to Orinda or recreational activities around the San Pablo and Briones reservoirs.
Crews work to repair Wildcat Canyon Road, closed in 2023 by a landslide near San Pablo Dam Road. Credit: Contra Costa County Public Works
Now, work is moving forward on the crumbled westbound roadway and its adjacent embankment, with a push to have the work completed and the road open by the end of the year.
“The timeline for a project like this is complex, because it requires a specific sequence of steps before construction can begin,” said Contra Costa Public Works Senior Civil Engineer and Project Manager Jenna Caldwell.
Roughly 2.5 miles of the road have been closed between Inspiration Point and San Pablo Dam Road since the slide in March 2023. The slide took place roughly 500 feet west of San Pablo Dam Road and damaged a 24-inch drainage culvert.
Surveys of the repair and improvement area were underway by July 2023, about four months post landslide. By that September, funding for the project had been secured through Caltrans.
A year later, environmental studies on the area were completed. A necessary property acquisition process, to ensure the legal rights for the work, was done by this March.
Following a brief bidding process, a construction contract was finalized this June.
The county has been actively working on the repair since the slide in early 2023, said project manager Caldwell. The project also involves some updates to the site.
“While the road was in place before, the upcoming reconstruction is a more extensive project than simply replacing the original road,” she said.
In total, the reconstruction is projected to cost just over $2.6 million, originating from Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief Program, set aside to repair qualifying roadways damaged by natural disasters and catastrophic events. Repairs and upgrades are also funded by the SB 1 Local Gas Tax.
Berkeley aims to stabilize slope on different portion of Wildcat Canyon Road
In a separate project along a different stretch of Wildcat Canyon Road, the city of Berkeley is planning to improve drainage, stabilize the slope and make slide repairs in a three-phase project between Grizzly Peak Boulevard and Anza View Road.
“Wildcat Canyon Road has a long history of landslides and erosion, leading to numerous emergency repairs over the years,” reads a report on the city’s website. “This project is designed to improve the roadway’s resilience to such hazards, prevent sinkhole formation caused by failing culverts, and enhance safety for both the public and emergency service vehicles.”
That work is tentatively slated to begin this month and wrap up between January and March.
A version of this story first appeared in The Orinda News. Berkeleyside’s Zac Farber and Alex N. Gecan contributed reporting.
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