LAMORINDA WEEKLY | Celebration planned to mark end of the Moraga sinkhole, Nov. 16


Moraga Public Works Director Edric Kwan with Project Manager Senior Civil Engineer Shawn Knapp in the trench as the culvert is repaired.

Town staff decided to hold the reopening of Rheem Boulevard party on Nov.16 after all the different pieces are in place, giving the town a finished product: a repaired culvert, a repaved arterial, reconstructed sidewalks, new and cured pavement, new striping and new street lights.

The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the corner of Moraga Road and Rheem Boulevard. Just before the official ribbon cutting, emergency vehicles will pass through before the roadway is open to all traffic. The town staff and the Chamber of Commerce are inviting residents and businesses to celebrate the end of the long ordeal, which was delayed by many administrative and meteorological challenges.

Merchants bordering the boulevard will hand out goodies in bags that say, "I survived the sinkhole." Public Works Director Edric Kwan, who has been in charge since the culvert collapsed 20 months ago, says that all the goodies were donated by either utility companies, contractors or local merchants.

Kwan is confident that the demanding process the town was subjected to by the Federal Emergency Management Agency will result in a reimbursement of the close to $3 million that was spent to repair the hole, but notes that the reimbursement may take years before it returns to the town's reserve fund.

Normal circulation at the intersection will resume soon after the celebration is over.