Kasson Road – a major rural connector in the South County used by Amazon and other distribution center workers in east Tracy to avoid the 120 Bypass – is closed from the San Joaquin River Club to Durham Ferry Road.
The closure was imposed Tuesday after a retention pond was compromised sending a wall of water to erode the earth beneath the roadway.
The impacted area is 10 miles south of Manteca just west of the Airport Way bridge.
The River Club has more than 250 homes nestled against the west side of the San Joaquin River at Airport Way. After Airport Way crosses the river it becomes Durham Ferry Road.
The water rushed into a series of manmade lakes at the River Club.
Rising water in those lakes threatened a number of homes prompting emergency crews to respond.
The solution was setting up a series of pumps to take water out of the lakes and over the levee and dump it into the San Joaquin River.
The river as of 9:45 p.m. Tuesday was at 24.44 feet. It was at 23.33 feet at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.
It is still below minor flood stage which is at 29 feet.
When the last major flood occurred in January of 1997 that flooded 70 square miles between Manteca and Tracy, the river crested at 34.88 feet.
In that flood, levees along the Stanislaus and San Joaquin rivers failed in 11 places.
Kasson Road as well as several nearby roadways such as Linne Road have closed several times during the recent weeks as the flat terrain was unable to handle the water.
Several almond orchards have been covered in water for the past several weeks.
The California Highway Patrol’s Tracy office made the announcement of Kasson Road’s closure Tuesday after torrential rains blanketed Northern California at times with water volumes that were unprecedented in recent years – resulting in localized flooding across large swaths of the north state.
Video released on Tuesday by the Tracy office of the CHP showed water from the agricultural retention basin – which line the sides of Airport Way and Durham Ferry Road in the area – flowing beneath the road and taking away all the structural support beneath it. The video shows only the asphalt remaining at the edge of the roadway while water pours beneath.
Similar situations have occurred in other parts of the state – including Highway 92 to Half Moon Bay that is currently only open one-way with traffic controls thanks to a massive sinkhole caused by erosion.
While the water from the series of storms did result in a levee breach in Sacramento County that left some Highway 99 motorists trapped in the fast-moving water dead, in South San Joaquin County the problem hasn’t been the breach of the levee, but seepage from the swollen San Joaquin River coupled with collected rainwater.
Because of the topography of the area, any time the San Joaquin River swells – which is being seen right now as a result of water managers releasing more water to make room for massive inflows into reservoirs which have to keep space considering the massive snowpack that exists in the Sierra Nevada mountains – the area near Kasson Road (which is bisected by Airport Road) and Durham Ferry Road is often incredibly saturated.
While the water doesn’t necessarily pass through the levees in the area, it does flow beneath the levees and when the water table raises results in localized flooding that can turn entire fields into lakes. That phenomenon is not unique to that area as seepage issues are commonplace and are being addressed in places like Lathrop by the entity that manages the levees.
While the San Joaquin River is expected to rise at the Airport Way bridge and at the Mossdale bridge on Interstate 205 over the course of the next 24 hours, it is not expected to reach flood stage – which it did in February of 2017.
During that storm, reservoir managers opened up emergency spillways to drain enough water to prevent water from flowing over the dam – resulting in a swollen San Joaquin River that eventually broke a levee in South Manteca that was repaired by quick-thinking farmers that happened to be patrolling in the area.
That levee breach resulted in the evacuation of hundreds of homeowners South of the Highway 120 Bypass. The flooding was temporarily contained to only the adjacent field before the break was filled in with privately-owned heavy equipment used by area farmers before a formal repair was made.
Highway 99 closed at
Turner Road in Lodi
Caltrans also has implemented a full closure of northbound and southbound Highway 99 in from Turner Road in Lodi to Peltier Road in Acampo due to flooding.
There is no estimated time of opening.
Maintenance crews are currently using two, 10-inch diameter sump pumps to move pooled water from flooded areas on northbound Highway 99 at Woodbridge Road, through approximately 5,000 feet of steel pipe along the roadway, to the Mokelumne River to the south.
On Monday, waters began moving from the east side Highway 99 westward, eventually flooding several lanes on northbound Highway 99 before reaching the median and southbound lanes.
Caltrans immediately responded by shutting down lanes and implementing highway ramp closures for motorist safety. Crews have been working 12-hour shifts, around the clock to address the flooding and eventually re-open the highway.
Motorists are advised to seek alternate routes during this closure and are also reminded to #TurnAroundDontDrown and to not attempt to drive through flooded areas as the water may be deeper than it appears. Be sure to #KnowBeforeYouGo and check www.quickmap.dot.ca.gov for the latest highway conditions and closure information.
To contact Bulletin reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.
