DANVILLE — A stretch of one of this town’s major thoroughfares closed Thursday and will remain blocked for several weeks as crews work to replace a damaged drainage culvert.
The closure of Diablo Road, from Alameda Diablo to Avenida Diablo, is expected to cause significant disruption to daily commutes. Only school buses and emergency vehicles will be allowed on the road that connects Diablo and Blackhawk residents to Interstate 680.
The Diablo Community Services District intends to close the intersection of Avenida Nueva at Diablo Road to replace the outdated drainage culvert just east of Alameda Diablo.
Engineers inspected the culvert pipe in January and found it to be flattening, causing slope erosion and a dip on the surface of the road. The current culvert pipe has reached the end of its 60-year life expectancy and has been heavily damaged by winter storms, officials said.
The project will involve digging up Diablo Road, constructing a new culvert onsite and installing it. That is expected to take about 21 days. Crews will be working 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, but the road will be closed for the full duration of the project.
“The objective of this project is to keep travel on Diablo Road safe and preserve the integrity of the Town’s drainage system,” Jenn Starnes, a spokesperson for the town of Danville, said in a statement.
While the road is closed, workers also plan to cut down more than 20 eucalyptus trees near Alameda Diablo that have become at risk of falling due to recent rain and wind storms.
During the work, a section of Diablo Road between Fairway Drive and Alameda Diablo will be configured to only allow for one-way traffic.
Officials have created a detour map of the area with suggested alternate routes for east and westbound travel to avoid the project area. Those detours include taking Camino Tassajara, Blackhawk Road and Sycamore Valley Road.
Updates regarding the project are available on the town of Danville’s website.
Source: www.mercurynews.com