Road closures cut off Topanga residents’ main route to the coast and force them to take long detours It will reopen on Sunday, months earlier than originally estimated by officials.
Gov. Gavin Newsom will announce Friday an expedited reopening of a section of Topanga Canyon Boulevard that was blocked by mud, rocks and debris after a March 9 landslide. Car-sized boulders flooded and closed. That month, storms hit the area, causing widespread damage.
“I cannot overstate how important it is for the state and everyone involved to have Topanga Canyon Boulevard open as quickly and safely as possible,” Newsom said in a statement.
Also known as State Highway 27, this highway stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway to Highway 118 and offers high traffic and scenic views.
Topanga Canyon Boulevard is located in the Santa Monica Mountains, connecting Malibu and the western San Fernando Valley. It is the main artery for Topanga residents to go to PCH. Local businesses isolated by the closures suffered. At the same time, residents are forced to take alternative routes, which increases commute times.
On April 20, a landslide blocked Topanga Canyon Road.
(Caltrans Region 7)
Lauren Wonder, a spokesperson for the California Department of Transportation, said residents’ frustration is “understandable.” “It’s difficult for them to move around.”
Topanga Canyon Parkway also serves as an evacuation route for Topanga Canyon, and “the reopening of this highway is especially important as fire season approaches,” Newsom’s office said in a news release.
Earlier this month, Newsom declare a state of emergency Help secure federal funding to repair roads damaged by severe spring storms, including two-lane highways.
Officials initially expected the closure between Grand View Drive and PCH to last into the fall.
However, it turned out that less mud, rock and other material needed to be removed than expected, and the landslide was not as deep as first thought, according to Wonder.
Caltrans crews won’t be able to reach the landslide area to make a more accurate estimate until the earth stops moving, she said. The area has been unsafe for weeks.
She said crews ended up removing about 15,000 cubic yards of material, far less than the 50,000 to 90,000 cubic yards they thought they had to deal with.
The type of sliding that occurs is called translation, which Wonder describes as “a bit like a tablecloth sliding off a table.” In other words, just the topsoil has declined.
Once the slide is stopped and a visual assessment is conducted, a pathway will be built near the area, she said.
This allowed crews to bring heavy equipment to the site and begin digging from top to bottom, she said.
Officials said it was still a sizable landslide and believed to be larger than another major landslide in the 1940s.
Crews are working around the clock, seven days a week to stabilize the area and clear roads, according to the governor’s office.
“Thanks to the hard work of the state and the support of the crews and locals who assisted on site, this restoration has exceeded our expectations and is several months ahead of original projections,” Newsom said.
Topanga Canyon Road landslide scene on May 20.
(Caltrans Region 7)
Both lanes of the road will be open on Sunday. Officials said occasional one-way traffic control measures may be in place to complete additional repair work.
Wonder said crews may plant seeds or place cable netting on the mountain to prevent more material from falling into the area.
“This is an ever-changing area, so we’re doing the best we can,” Wonder said. “We are constantly monitoring so that we can protect [and] Protect motorists’ safety. Will this happen again? it can.
Temporary traffic lights installed on PCH’s one-way Tuna Canyon Road, a detour to the coast, will remain in place for some time, she said.
