Morgan Territory slide repair complete

A rebuilt Morgan Territory Rd. finally opened to through traffic on Nov. 18 after a huge landslide closed the road last February and residents celebrated with a pot-luck and unofficial ribbon cutting.

Last winter’s brutal rains caused many mudslides along Morgan Territory and Marsh Creek, frequently closing those roads for a few hours or a day.

But the severest damage was caused when a stretch of the hill one mile south of Marsh Creek began to slide, taking out water and power and most of the road.  The landslide slide was more than 400 ft. long and 40 ft. deep. More than 400 residents living south of the slide were stranded with no way in or out except over a one-lane, storm-damaged mountain road to Livermore. To cope, most residents parked one vehicle on the north side of the slide and walked across the slide zone, schlepping groceries, water, supplies and kids.  Volunteer veterans brought in golf carts and ferried neighbors across the slide for several hours every day.

In June, Public Works and the property owners along privately-owned Leon Dr. reached an agreement which allowed a temporary access from Morgan Territory over a steep hill that connected to a fire trail terminating at the Marsh Creek Detention Facility on Marsh Creek Rd.

Repairing the slide required constructing two retaining walls, one on the uphill side and one on the downhill side of Morgan Territory, rebuilding the road bed and relocating the power poles and water main. Each wall is anchored by 30 piles drilled 60 feet into bedrock. Almost all of the $4 million cost to repair will be covered by FEMA and OES.

An official ribbon cutting hosted by Supervisor Diane Burgis last Saturday was attended by the county public works officials, the contractors and others involved in the massive rebuilding project.