Stretch of Topanga Canyon Road closed until at least Sunday night

A nearly four mile muddy stretch of Topanga Canyon Boulevard between PCH and Grandview drive will be closed almost the entire weekend, and it could be longer: more rain is expected this weekend.

Mike Jung's market a block away was completely empty inside when we walked in.

"The road closing until Sunday is really affecting my business because there's lot of commute going through and people couldn't come," said Jung.

The thick mud trapped five cars early Thursday morning, including ones Ivan Contrerars and Jenniffer Cruz were in.

"It was pretty bad, pretty bad, raining pretty hard so.. Caught us by surprise didn't expect it," said Contreras.

"We had call 911 to help us out 'cause no one was doing anything we just got stuck," said Jenniffer Cruz.
For hours after, commuters were stuck in traffic nearby... while crews uses chains and bulldozer to pull vehicles out

This is the third mudslide on the busy boulevard in the last two months.

But Cal Trans says this one is dramatically heavier.

"You can see from looking at it, it's kinda soupy....but at the same time it has a lot more rocks in it, it has ash in it, it has all the debris," said Marc Bischoff with Cal Trans.

Now neighbors fearing, with more rains expected, it could happen here again.

"Every year it rains and every time it hurts us yeah, but it comes with the territory," said Jung.

In order to prevent this from happening again, Cal Trains will study this area.

They may add more K rails and install larger drain pipes.

The slide, which occurred about 2:30 a.m., forced closure of the roadway between Pacific Coast Highway and Grand View Drive, according to Caltrans. The slide was in the same general area and a mud flow that occurred during rains last week.

"After last week's slide, Caltrans installed several hundred feet of K-rail with fence on top for a total height of eight feet to catch mud and rocks,'' according to Caltrans. ``This morning's slide occurred over a gully just outside the parameters of the K-rail in three separate locations within a span of approximately 1,000 feet.''

Crews were using skip loaders, backhoes, dump trucks and sweepers in an effort the clear the roadway. A geological engineer from Caltrans was sent to inspect the area.

"With more rain expected, Caltrans will keep the roadway closed through at least Sunday night to clear the roadway, implement any necessary additional slide control, and keep the roadway safe for the public use,'' Caltrans officials said.

The rural area has no homes or businesses along that section of the roadway, which is one lane in each direction with a shoulder. At least one vehicle got stuck in the mud, but no one was hurt.

This was the third slide on Topanga Canyon Boulevard since a fire in the area in January, Caltrans reported.

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