The last downhill section of Bear Creek, going South, towards Orinda, between Happy Valley, and almost to the bridge before San Pablo Dam Rd., is very fast, steep, and it's covered with gravel, extremely dangerous ... It forces bicyclists who know the road to take the lane, and for cyclists who are not familiar with that particular section of the descent to be an extreme danger ... A fatality happened in that section a few years ago. It's urgent that somebody pays attention to this problem. To make things worse, on week days there is an active flow of trucks carrying gravel, sand ... and spreading it all over the road, cars are moving that debris onto the shoulder.

Maria Teresa Garcia de laNoceda

I share these concerns, and have passed them along to some people at Contra Costa County Public Works who have been helpful in the past. For general reference, they are: jland@pw.cccounty.us cricc@pw.cccounty.us khard@pw.cccounty.us and jlee@so.co.contra-costa.ca.us
Garbage dumping in this area is chronic and in the past has been extreme enough to catch the attention of Dan Borenstein at the Contra Costa Times: dborenstein@bayareanewsgroup.com

Carrie Ricci of Contra County Public Works has passed along this issue to their maintenance division. In the past, this has been an effective channel for registering problems on Bear Creek Road.

Thank you for the information,

Maria Teresa

close this issue

Reopening, as the recent--as yet incomplete--application of gravel with "chip seal" tar has made the entire 3 Bears loop quite treacherous for cyclists. Lots of large diameter, loose, sticky gravel again forces cyclists to weave around the worst of it, sometime toward the center of the roadway.

Steve Padilla of Contra Costa County Public works ( Steve.Padilla@pw.cccounty.us ) just responded to say he would check and get back on this issue within a week.

I don't see any activity since 2018. Closing again.