Caltrans, Army Corps and county outline months-long plan to clear mud and repair Topanga Canyon Boulevard; LAUSD to provide limited bus service

Topanga Town Council — Caltrans, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Los Angeles County officials told a Topanga Town Council meeting Thursday that clearing mud and stabilizing Topanga Canyon Boulevard will take weeks for debris removal and many more months for full repairs.

At the meeting Caltrans communications director Lauren Miller said crews have already removed a large initial volume of material and that engineers expect to clear the bulk of the mud within about 2½ to 3 months, but that reconstruction of the damaged highway — which requires multiple retaining walls and geotechnical work — will take longer. “We got 33,000 cubic yards of mud that came down,” Miller said, and showed Caltrans field photos of washouts between Post Mile 0.933 and 2.712 where slope failures exposed culverts and undermined the roadway.

Why it matters: the closure of Topanga Canyon Boulevard has limited residents’ access to schools, medical appointments and work and has strained businesses. Officials said they are trying to balance urgent community access with safety and the logistical demands of a large debris-removal operation that depends on synchronized work by utilities and heavy trucks.

What officials told the council

Caltrans: Miller said crews are removing mud, testing it, and hauling clean material to a farm in Oxnard for storage and disposal. That daytime-only drop-off — Oxnard’s own noise rules will not allow nighttime deliveries — is one constraint Caltrans cited in trying to meet the 2½–3 month target for removing mud from the…