City of Orinda and Moraga-Orinda Fire District Complete San Pablo Creek Culvert and Evacuation Route Upgrades

Civil engineers with the City of Orinda Public Works and Engineering Department and fire-prevention specialists from the Moraga-Orinda Fire District (MOFD) have completed their late-October round of storm-drain culvert inspections along San Pablo Creek and high-visibility pavement striping upgrades across Orinda's hillside collector roads. Reviewed with the Orinda City Council and the Citizens' Infrastructure Oversight Commission in October 2026, the dual autumn maintenance effort transitions municipal crews from dry-season wildfire fuel reduction to wet-weather flood and commute safety. Orinda maintains more than ninety miles of winding residential and arterial streets tucked into the wooded Oakland-Berkeley hills.

Along the San Pablo Creek watershed—which flows northward from the Caldecott Tunnel canyons through the Orinda Village commercial district and along Camino Pablo toward San Pablo Reservoir—municipal maintenance teams spent October clearing fallen redwood needles, bay laurel branches, and silt from trash racks, catch basins, and bridge abutments. Keeping major box culverts unobstructed prevents stormwater from backing up across Santa Maria Way, Camino Sobrante, and downtown parking plazas during heavy November atmospheric river downpours.

Simultaneously, roadway contractors applied fresh retroreflective thermoplastic centerline and white edge-line striping along Miner Road, Sleepy Hollow Lane, El Toyonal, Glorietta Boulevard, and Wilder Road. High-contrast reflective glass beads embedded in the pavement paint help drivers and emergency response engines track curved lane boundaries during dense Tule fog and rainy winter nights.

Orinda homeowners are reminded that maintaining private driveway culverts and backyard creek banks is a shared neighborhood responsibility under the municipal stormwater ordinance. Residents can report clogged street drains via the Orinda Works mobile app, pick up sandbags at the Community Park parking lot off Orinda Way, or call Public Works at (925) 253-4200.