Riverbank residents suffer unintended consequences of massive construction project

Since around 2019, the Sandovals have lived in a home that’s been damaged by flooding at Claribel Road and Roselle Avenue. They live at the crossroads of a massive project that will replace Claribel with an extension of highway 108.

From the front yard, Melissa Sandoval and her father, Robert Sandoval, can see the crawler cranes towering across the street. 

There had been a drainage pipe under the road on the north side of the intersection in front of their home. But contractors blocked up the pipe in error while widening the street as part of the North County Corridor project.

When heavy rains came, there was nowhere for water to go on the low-lying property. So it pooled in their yard, uprooting trees and causing extensive water damage. 

“The flooding got so bad to the point we actually had to put a fence up, because rather than helping us, there were people complaining about the way our property looked,” Sandoval said. 

Multiple agencies, elected officials and contractors have tried but ultimately failed to fully resolve the problem that caused major damage to their home in rural Riverbank.

The North County Corridor Project plans did not include the drainage pipe.

“The project plans did not include this pipe,” reads an email by Stanislaus County Public Works Director David Leamon to county CEO Jody Hayes in February. Leamon added the city and county went back and forth about replacing the pipe for years.

The Sandovals’ neighbor two doors down, Tammy Smith, also has had flooding after the county widened the road and blocked the drain. “Everything got worse,” Smith said. “When it was sort of flooding and coming off the roads, I’d get a pump and pump it out,” Smith said. 

To bring attention to the problem, Sandoval got loud. On a wooden fence facing the road, she posted photos of her trudging through the trenches she dug to keep water out. She attached laminated copies of the project plans that showed the drainage pipe was never taken into consideration. She went to city and county meetings to speak during public comment, and she left a cavalcade of comments on social media. 

Leamon said in an email that the increased social media attention in fall 2025, pushed the county to enlist a contractor to finally replace the pipe on Dec. 2 — seven years after the flooding first started.

Robert Sandoval said he has lived in the home his entire life and his family has owned the property for six generations. But the Sandovals don’t hold the deed to the house, and Sandoval said the family members that do aren’t interested in filing a claim about the damage.

Instead, Melissa Sandoval said, they told her they planned to wait until the property would be sold as part of an eminent domain claim related to the corridor project.

Her family member did not respond to multiple calls from The Bee for comment. “There are no plans to demolish the home as part of the North County Corridor project,” county spokesperson Carissa Lucas said in an email to The Bee.

Meanwhile, the nearby North County Corridor project continues to cause disruptions for the father and daughter, both of whom have disabilities that keep them from working or leaving the property they say is no longer safe. 

“We have one room, and we have a curtain up, and we’re splitting that room,” Melissa Sandoval said.

The home no longer has carpet since they ripped it out after extensive water damage.

Two days before Christmas, after the new storm drain was put in, the water from their well stopped flowing. Since then, the Sandovals have not had running water. They use a portable outdoor shower to keep clean.

Sandoval tried to get a contractor to repair her well but was told that the low overhead cables feeding power to the corridor project prevented them from safely doing the work.

In January, her power was shut off for 24 hours because of work related to the project.

In early June her father was informed PG&E would be doing “gas safety work” from June 8 to 10. They were also informed that their gas will eventually be shut off entirely.

“I work so hard just to not think about everything here,” Sandoval said. 

Part of what led to the delay in addressing the Sandovals’ concerns was a misunderstanding of who was responsible for stepping in.

Since 1997, the Sandoval property has been within the boundaries of Riverbank but father and daughter were completely unaware. 

Apparently, so was the county, which responded to multiple calls to vacuum water at the property with the understanding the home was in unincorporated Stanislaus County.

“County Public Works has previously provided services there, in the last 7 years or so — such as cleaning swales and sending the Vactor truck — but that should no longer continue,” reads an email by Leamon. “The Sandovals need to work directly with the City of Riverbank.”

In 2024, Riverbank placed a large sign that reads “Welcome to Riverbank” on the corner of the property. Her address was quickly changed, which caused a delay in mail delivery. 

“They sent us like a little letter, it was a printed letter, and all it said was, ‘Congratulations, you’re in Riverbank, we are your new post office.’”

Riverbank Councilmember Stacy Call said she reached out to the Sandovals to let them know she was their city representative. 

In June, Call asked a city engineer to determine Riverbank’s responsibility for the property, vs. the owner’s responsibility. But, to move forward, Call said she needs a total of three members of the City Council on board.

“I haven’t had any follow up,” Call said. 

She requested communication between the city and the Sandovals but said it’s mainly been a few communications with public works.

We have three different jurisdictions communicating about it,” Call said. “We’re just trying to play catch-up at this point to figure out what’s been done, what’s been said.” 

The Sandovals want to put a trailer in the backyard and live in it, but a neighbor who had tried a similar setup was evicted. 

“We suffer so much,” Sandoval said. “We deserve answers, just like everybody else. I just don’t think it’s right.”

She’s called every representative in charge of her area, from local to President Trump. The ones who respond, eventually drop off communication. 

“They say, “Oh, we’re going to help you, we’re going to help you, and the next thing you know, “Oh, we can’t help you, then we don’t hear from them,’” Sandoval said. “We just kind of feel forgotten.”

The county said its remaining work in the region will include sidewalk improvements from the southwest corner of Rosell and Claribel to beyond the eastbound ramps of the new interchange. “We understand how difficult and disruptive drainage and water service concerns can be for any family, and we recognize the frustration this situation has caused the Sandoval family,” Lucas said in her email. “The County remains committed to working cooperatively with our local agency partners to help ensure residents are connected with the appropriate jurisdiction and resources.”

This story was originally published July 14, 2026 at 12:11 PM.