Lake Chabot Park Gate Access on Grovenor Drive Closed

Last week, a Patch reader expressed on the Castro Valley Patch Facebook her disappointment and concern of the closing of the pedestrian access gate to Lake Chabot Park at the end of Grovenor Drive.

Read: Dear Castro Valley Friends

Patch Reader, Chantale Gaillard Robles, has been in constant contact with the East Bay Park Board of Directors since the gate first closed in April and reopened in May.

Two weeks ago, Robles and other Lake Chabot Park visitors noticed the gate was closed again. Robles emailed the East Bay Park Board of Directors again and they directed her to Arthur Carrera, engineering and transportation program manager at Alameda County Public Works Agency.

The district supervisors notified Carrera that some of the community was complaining about the gate being open for public access.

Carrera went back into the Alameda County Public Works files and learned the gate was initially for emergency accessibility. He also found that back in 1975, the board of supervisors passed a resolution that stated the gate was to be closed completely.

East Bay Park District reopened the gate in May because they weren’t aware that the gate actually belonged to Alameda County.

“It’s not that they didn’t know. There was just a lot of changing of staff, and the resolution passed all the way back in 1975, said Carrera.

Because the gate belonged to Alameda County, Public Works had no choice but to follow the passed resolution and close the gate.

The good news is that Alameda County Public Works is willing to reopen the pedestrian gate access. Carrera just asks that East Bay Park District go through Public Works to receive all the necessary permits.

“We’re stuck in the middle with this issue, but I believe the gate closure has initiated a lot of public discussion,” states Carrera. “We can now see whether to keep it closed or reopen it to the public again.”