A tree brought down a 60-year-old pedestrian bridge in San Leandro during March storms

The bridge connects two streets and runs above the San Leandro Creek.

SAN LEANDRO — Repair work to a 60-year-old pedestrian bridge that collapsed under the weight of a fallen tree during a wind storm earlier this month will begin as soon as the debris is cleared from it.

That process is only now just beginning, after a giant Eucalyptus tree crushed the structure during a March storm, one of several that felled thousands of trees and broke limbs across the Bay Area.

“The first thing that needs to be done is to clear the area of the bridge damage itself, the concrete around it, other debris,” San Leandro Unified School District spokesperson Keziah Moss said. “We haven’t even started cleaning out what’s fallen because we keep getting bad weather.”

The SLUSD and city of San Leandro announced earlier this week they will work together to repair the bridge, which connects Cary Drive with Haas Avenue. The bridge runs about 30 feet above the San Leandro Creek; without it, pedestrians are forced to walk a much further distance to travel between the two roads. They also must do so by crossing Bancroft Lane, one of the area’s busiest streets.

Students in the area also use the bridge to get to and from school; Bancroft Middle School is a few blocks south of the bridge, on Bancroft Avenue.

“We understand the importance of this bridge to the community,” SLUSD Superintendent Dr. Mike McLaughlin said in a statement. “And we will do everything in our power to ensure a safe solution to this issue.”

“(The bridge is) a big deal to the residents of the area,” Moss said. “It was a beautiful little connector that brought those streets together.”