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Laurel Canyon Will Remain Closed Through Monday, If Not Longer
Aspiring ladies of the canyon (and desperate commuters) will have to wait a few more days before they can freely pass through Laurel Canyon. The heavily trafficked boulevard, which has been partially closed in both directions since Wednesday, won't reopen until late Monday or early Tuesday, "at the absolute earliest," Kate Hutton of the Los Angeles Emergency Management Department.
Just after 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, a 9,000-pound slab of concrete—part of the foundation and retaining wall of a hillside home destabilized by the rains—crashed down from Gould Avenue onto the boulevard below. The street was fortunately closed at the time (erring on the side of caution, authorities had closed it several hours before after inspecting the home in question) and no injuries were reported, but there is a still a massive slab of concrete in the middle of the street. The tumbling slab also took part of a fence and some ground near the house down with it, according to CBS 2.
Dava Lara, a spokesman for the Department of Building and Safety, told LAist that his department had red-tagged the house on Gould, and yellow-tagged two adjacent homes as a precaution.
On Friday, Councilmember David Ryu introduced an emergency motion to authorize funding so the city can commence work if needed over the holiday weekend. Ryu spokesman Estevan Montemayor told LAist that the motion was voted on and approved by council. Building and Safety evaluated the property above the slide area and deemed it is safe for Street Services workers to begin installing protective barriers along the center of Laurel Canyon Boulevard, which will begin on Saturday.
The road will remain closed to commuters between Mulholland Drive and Sunset Boulevard, according to the Emergency Management Department. Local access (except for between Gould and Kirkland) will still be allowed, meaning residents can go to and from their homes. More information can be found below:
(Courtesy of the Los Angeles Department of Emergency Management)
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