Private Road Paving in Walnut Creek, CA

Private road paving is a big part of hillside work in central Contra Costa. Many homes in Orinda, Lafayette, Moraga, Alamo and the Walnut Creek hills sit on shared drives or private roads that the city or County does not maintain. In Orinda alone, residents told the City Council in 2018 that there were 29 miles of private roads, and the City maintains only public ones. When those roads crack and pothole, it is up to the neighbors or an association to fix them.

What private roads need

A private road carries far more than one household's cars. Garbage and recycling trucks, delivery vans, fire engines and construction traffic all use it. That calls for a thicker base and asphalt section than a single driveway. Cost guides describe 3 to 4 inches of asphalt over 8 to 10 inches of base for heavier vehicles. On slopes, the road also needs a crown or cross-slope and ditches, swales or curbs to carry water off without eroding the shoulders.

Rebuild, overlay or maintain?

We walk the road with the owners or the board and map its condition: sections where the base has failed and must be rebuilt, sections where an overlay will work, and sections that only need crack sealing and sealcoat. That map becomes a phased plan, so the road can be repaired in priority order over one or several years, within the group's budget.

Working with several owners

Shared roads mean shared decisions. We provide quotes broken down by section so costs can be divided according to your road maintenance agreement or HOA rules, and we schedule work so every household keeps access, typically by paving one lane or one section at a time.

Drainage and culverts

Water is the main enemy of hillside roads. Blocked culverts and ditches send runoff across the pavement, where it erodes the edges and softens the base. We clear or replace culverts, reshape ditches and add curbs where needed as part of the work.

Where the road meets the public street

The connection to the public street is in the city or County right-of-way. Orinda's municipal code, for example, requires an encroachment permit to encroach into the public right-of-way. We identify that work in the quote and plan for the permit.

Fire access

Private roads in the hills are often the only route for fire engines. Keeping the surface sound, the width clear and the drainage working is part of protecting every home on the road.