SAN LEANDRO Calif. (KRON) — A pedestrian bridge destroyed in San Leandro during the recent storms is forcing residents and school kids to use detours. The city and school district are working on solutions to repair and replace the nearly 60-year-old structure.

“It’s pretty dramatic. You can see there are two trees that collapsed. One right here in the foreground — it dropped,” neighbor Bill Bruin said.

It has been 10 days since a giant eucalyptus tree leveled a pedestrian bridge in San Leandro. Since 1965 the pedestrian bridge has linked Cary Drive with Haas Avenue. It was brought down in strong winds, knocking another tree out with it.

“You can see it impacted the neighbor over there. And, at the time, it took out his powerlines and fell into the street,” Bruin said.

Bruin lives nearby and says his family, like others, used the bridge often. Leading up to the storms he feared this could happen.

“We have been concerned. The trees that knocked out the bridge belong to the school district, as you can see behind me, and for many years we’ve been asking them to not get rid of the trees, but at least maintain them and trim them,” Bruin said.

San Leandro Mayor Juan Gonzalez said the priority is to get the area cleaned up before considering short-term solutions to give school kids and neighbors a way to cross over San Leandro Creek.

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“One of the things that residents make very clear: we want our schools and our city to be working closely together. So, they can be rest assured that we will be partnering to remedy the situation,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez adds the next step would be to develop a long-term plan to replace the bridge, which community members are petitioning for.

“You must understand the regulatory constraints. It was really easy in 1965 to build a bridge. In 2023, anything that abuts a waterway is more complicated,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said the city and school district need the area to dry out before bringing the heavy equipment needed to clear the debris.