Section of Big Tujunga Canyon Road reopens for residents, work crews

A section of Big Tujunga Canyon Road that was closed because of the recent storms partially reopened today, but only to local residents and emergency and construction vehicles, a county official said.

At 5 p.m., Big Tujunga Canyon Road was reopened as a construction zone from the Los Angeles city and county boundary to Vogel Flats Road, with access limited to residents, contractors and emergency vehicles, said Bob Spencer of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works.

Vogel Flats and Stonyvale Road also reopened to local traffic as a construction zone, he said.

"This restriction is necessary to allow Public Works crews and vehicles to continue to clear plugged roadway culverts, inlets and roadway shoulders of mud and debris, and make necessary repairs to some of the roads,'' Spencer said.

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The rest of Big Tujunga Canyon Road, all of Angeles Forest Highway from Aliso Canyon Road to Angeles Crest Highway and all of Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road remain closed until further notice, Spencer said.

Angeles Crest Highway remains closed as well.

In addition, a section of westbound Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles is closed to all but local traffic, and a road in the mountains above Malibu is closed, both due to storm damage.

Above Malibu, Rambla Pacifico Road is closed between Las Flores Road to north of Azurelee Drive, and is not scheduled to reopen until June 30, according to the Public Works department.

The closure on Mulholland Drive is between Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Coldwater Canyon Drive, where a section of the road was washed out by recent rains and a sinkhole developed, according to the city of Los Angeles Department of Transportation. It's unknown when repairs will be completed and the westbound section of Mulholland will reopen to all traffic.

The section of road was closed to all but local traffic at 4 p.m. Wednesday, according to the city Department of Transportation. K-rails were set up to keep vehicles off the pavement. Eastbound traffic was not affected.

City officials are seeking "expedited funding'' to make emergency repairs.

"As a result of the recent storms, a washout, or erosion gully, developed on the northern or downslope side of Mulholland,'' according to a Department of Public Works statement.

``The washout is 35 feet wide, 10 feet deep and located about seven-tenths of a mile east of the intersection of Coldwater Canyon ... (and) has eroded fill material consisting of silty sand used when the road was constructed,'' Public Works reported.

In the interim, motorists are being advised to seek alternate routes.