Telecom firms to trench 1.8 miles in Topanga; night closures could overlap with electrical work

Caltrans staff told the Topanga town hall that telecom providers—including AT&T, Crown Castle, Charter and Verizon—have proposed a coordinated undergrounding of roughly 1.8 miles of cable from Pacific Coast Highway into the canyon. The firms filed permit packages and, if approved, would perform most work overnight to minimize daytime traffic impacts.

A county/Caltrans representative said the companies estimate about six to eight weeks of night operations, with typical hours proposed between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. Officials cautioned that those hours would mean double traffic-control operations during parts of the project—first Edison’s nighttime crews and then telecom crews—and urged the firms to coordinate on sequencing and radio channels to avoid blocking continuous stretches of the road.

Staff said a permit needs to be issued by early March for the telecom schedule to align with Caltrans’ pavement and repaving sequence. If coordination cannot be achieved, staff said they would consider denying the permit to avoid prolonged daytime impacts; planners emphasized that the current coordination attempt is intended to reduce repeated lane closures by making as much work happen at once as possible.

Officials said community outreach and precise staging maps will be provided once the permit review is complete. Residents asked about removal of old aerial cables and whether leftover conduit or vault material would be cleared; staff said removal is generally part of the work and will be evaluated during permit review.