Silva’s Crossing remained closed as of Tuesday, as Gilroy preps
for two new storms expected to hit the region this week.
Silva’s Crossing remained closed Tuesday as Gilroy prepped for the first of two storms expected to hit the area this week.
The Uvas Creek crossing, which runs across Miller Avenue between Santa Teresa Boulevard and Uvas Park Drive, was closed Monday in preparation for possible flooding, said Joe Kline, public information officer for the City of Gilroy.
Recent wet weather and the likelihood of excess water rushing toward Gilroy from the Uvas Reservoir also contributed to the crossing’s closure, Kline said.
The reservoir was 101.5 percent filled as of 3:05 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
“Because of the unsettled weather pattern, the forecasted storm, the saturated watershed, and the release of water from Uvas Reservoir, precipitation anywhere in the watershed feeding Uvas Creek could cause the water level to rise quite rapidly,” he wrote in an e-mail. “Apparently the crossing is being closed as a precaution based on these factors.”
As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, water in the creek had not overtaken the roadway.
Kline said he was not certain when the crossing would reopen.
“It’s sometimes easy to predict when you will need to close it,” he said. “It’s much more difficult to predict when it will reopen.”
An overnight storm could bring up to an inch of rain, according to the National Weather Service, and a second set of showers Thursday could bring even more.
Gilroy has received 17.3 inches of rain since the storm season began July 1, meteorologist Bob Benjamin said.
He said the total was 115 percent above normal for the city.
