County to close Rodden Road near Oakdale to repair storm damage

An emergency storm repair will close a section of Rodden Road northeast of Oakdale for up to two months, a Stanislaus County official said.

The road between Oakdale and Knights Ferry has sunk almost 12 inches where it crosses Lesnini Creek, on the north side of the Stanislaus River. The county is tentatively set to close Rodden on Wednesday to replace a storm-damaged culvert under the road, between Eaton Road and Gibbs Drive, Public Works Director Matt Machado said.

The estimated cost to replace the culvert and rebuild the roadway is almost $1 million. County Public Works won’t establish a detour, but signs informing motorists of the closure will be posted at roads that can take them around it, Machado said.

Rodden Road, which serves the ranchette area outside of Oakdale, was just one of the casualties of a stormy winter that caused flooding and resulted in 23 road closures in Stanislaus County.

“We had three to four roads that sustained damage that we already repaired,” Machado said Friday.

Machado said an emergency declaration will make the county eligible for federal highway funds for repairs to Rodden Road. He expects federal money will cover $880,000, about $57,000 will come from the state Office of Emergency Services, and the county will kick in funds.

County employees noticed in March the pavement was sinking where Rodden passes over the creek, prompting engineers to assess the damage. Staff members monitored the road and thought it could go through the normal process of designing a rebuild, Machado said.

But the road kept sinking. And residents started to complain.

The Board of Supervisors will be asked to approve the emergency repairs Tuesday. “If we don’t do this, the road will collapse at some point,” Machado said. “We are watching it very closely.”

Motorists are advised to slow down to 25 mph before crossing the creek.

The storms sent water rushing through Lesnini Creek, and the flooding in February undercut the old concrete structure that carries water under the road and to the Stanislaus River, about 100 feet to the south.

Water still is eroding away the ground underneath the structure, Machado said. Several weeks are required for the repairs because the contractor will need to dig out the 25-foot-deep culvert, replace it with a 96-inch pipe and repave the roadway.

The county has been working on a list of $40 million in improvements to keep low-lying areas from flooding in future storm events. Machado said funding sources for the improvements have not been identified.

This story was originally published April 30, 2017 at 5:03 PM with the headline "County to close Rodden Road near Oakdale to repair storm damage."