City Restores Vehicular Access to Cavendish Lane Within 24 Hours of an Agreement with Oakland to Allow Temporary Repair of Rain Damaged Roadway – 

April 4, 2017  Press Release from the City of Piedmont

On Saturday, April 1st, the City of Piedmont implemented a temporary repair on Cavendish Lane, a street owned and maintained by the City of Oakland. This repair allows four Piedmont residents to drive to their homes, which they haven’t been able to do since mid February. The City of Piedmont accomplished this task within 24 hours of Oakland signing an agreement to allow Piedmont to implement the repair.

In February, it was discovered that an approximately forty foot stretch of Cavendish Lane had been undermined approximately thirty inches. Upon finding this structural deficiency, the City of Oakland immediately closed this portion of Cavendish Lane to all vehicular traffic. This closure forced the inhabitants of the four Piedmont homes to park their vehicles on Park Boulevard and walk 1/3 of a mile over hilly terrain to access their homes.

As soon as the closure was implemented, the City of Piedmont began working with Oakland to come up with a temporary solution that would allow these residents to access their homes again. Piedmont, at its own expense, developed a temporary solution using steel plates, which would allow passenger cars to travel over the closed section of the road without posing a safety risk or causing further damage to the roadbed.

In early March, Piedmont’s Public Works Department and City Engineer presented this plan to the City of Oakland and requested the ability to implement it on the roadway owned by Oakland. The two cities began negotiating with regard to the project, and these negotiations stretched on for several weeks.

Representatives of the two cities met on Thursday, March 30th, to hammer out final details of the project. The following day, Friday, March 31st, at 5:00 p.m., the City of Oakland signed the agreement allowing the City of Piedmont to implement the repair. The following morning, crews contracted to the City of Piedmont were working on the repair. By 5:00 p.m., 24 hours after receiving word from Oakland that the work could take place, it was completed and the residents were able to again drive to their homes.

“We would like to thank our counterparts at the City of Oakland for allowing Piedmont, at our own cost, to implement this temporary fix and allow our residents to again access their homes,” said City Administrator Paul Benoit. “The past six weeks have been trying for the affected residents of Cavendish Lane and we are pleased that our efforts afforded them long-awaited access to their homes. I’d also like to thank City Attorney Michelle Marchetta Kenyon and Assistant City Attorney Chad Herrington for their diligent work on this matter.”

“Over the past weeks, the City Engineer and City Attorney have spent many hours working to find a solution to this issue that would satisfy the City of Oakland,” said Director of Public Works Chester Nakahara. “I’d like to thank City Engineer John Wanger as well as Miller Pacific Engineering for designing a temporary repair that could be implemented quickly and would allow these residents to access their homes again. I’d also like to thank Pacific General Engineering for implementing the temporary fix so quickly.”

The City of Piedmont will inspect the temporary fix daily to ensure that no further damage to the roadway will occur. The Cities of Oakland and Piedmont will now begin negotiations on a permanent fix to the undermining of the roadway.

For additional information contact City Clerk John Tulloch at:

420-3040