Update: Portions of Coldwater, Laurel Canyon Reopen but Delays Linger

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Southern Californians continued to face inconveniences large and small Wednesday from several days of heavy rains that saturated the region.


With several of the city’s canyon roads closed due to the threat of more mudslides, commuting for many has been a nightmare. Just getting onto the Ventura (101) and San Diego (405) freeways became a lengthy ordeal as rush-hour traffic backed up through many portions of the San Fernando Valley.


There are signs of relief.

As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, both Coldwater Canyon Avenue and Laurel Canyon Boulevard will be reopened from Ventura Boulevard to Mulholland Drive, according to Cora Fawcett, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles City Department of Public Works. But there will be a speed limit – strictly enforced – of 15 miles per hour. That’s because the Bureau of Engineering’s geotechnical experts say that vehicles moving faster than that could generate vibrations that could knock some more rocks and debris loose from the hillsides.

Coldwater Canyon Avenue and Laurel Canyon Boulevard south of Mulholland remain closed while those same geotechnical experts evaluate the road and hillside conditions there. Mulholland Drive between Coldwater and Laurel also remains closed. There has been no timeline given on when they will reopen.

Also, Big Tujunga Canyon Road at Mt. Gleason Ave. (in Sunland) has been reopened.


“Mulholland was undermined by a washout,” said Capt. Kurt Fasmer with the L.A. City Fire Dept. “That portion will be closed for some time until Building and Safety and Street Maintenance can shore that up and rebuild that section of the road.”


On Wednesday, L.A. County’s Department of Public Works estimated that the cost of repairing county maintained and operated roadways and properties damaged by the storm will cost nearly $30 million. That does not include L.A. city roads.


Fossett said she expects the requests for small asphalt street repairs to rise to 225,000 this year from the typical 200,000 requests, an increase directly caused by the recent storms. Over 1,000 pothole-related calls have come in since the rains began, she said.


The department does not expect to receive more resources to help deal with the potholes, she said. “We can see where we can make adjustments to try to respond to the requests as expeditiously as possible.”


Meanwhile, Caltrans officials said it would be Friday before a stretch of 101 near La Conchita can be reopened. That seaside community just south of Santa Barbara was still searching for bodies from Monday’s devastating mudslide. As of Wednesday morning, the death toll stood at 10.


Drivers wanting to reach Santa Barbara have been faced with a six-hour detour to Bakersfield and Paso Robles, then south back to Santa Barbara. Some have chosen other alternatives, such as boat. The Ventura County Star reports that Condor Express, a Santa Barbara tour operator, plans to begin service between Ventura and Santa Barbara.


While the rains are not likely to create much of an economic ripple on the area over the long term, there were numerous short-term problems that have developed. Union Pacific Corp. shut down much of its service into and out of Los Angeles due to tracks that became impassable because of the high water.


Among the lines affected by a series of mudslides was an area that goes through the Cajon Pass. Also closed was a stretch running between downtown L.A. and a switching yard near San Bernardino.


Union Pacific said it expects to repair its four damaged routes by Thursday.


However, the railroad won’t be taking any additional cargo until at least next Monday, when it has removed the backlog in freight that has been piling up at the terminal yards since the tracks were closed on Sunday, Union Pacific spokesman John Bromley said Wednesday morning. “It’s a major weather disaster,” he said. “We’ve never had to deal with anything like this before.”


Roughly one third of all cargo moving through the ports is hauled by trains.


The only route operating runs from West Colton east to Yuma, Ariz., but that line is at limited capacity because the tracks connecting West Colton to the ports are shut down.


Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., whose two lines from L.A. to Chicago were not significantly affected by the storms, has been allowing Union Pacific to re-route freight on four of the 80 trains it typically runs in and out of the L.A. basin each day.


“We’re taking what we can while still maintaining fluidity of our network,” said Lena Kent, spokeswoman for Burlington Northern.


In a letter to customers, Union Pacific Executive Vice President Jack Koraleski said recovery in Southern California “will be slow and will depend on weather.” On Tuesday, the railroad operated just a handful of the typical volume of 80 trains.


The suspension of service could create short-term headaches for the transportation of goods into and out of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. But given that traffic volume through the ports is low this time of year, the service interruption is not believed to be serious.


“If (the backlog) extends into next week, some of the importers might get a little concerned and find other ways to move the cargo,” said Art Wong, a spokesman for the Long Beach port. “But it’s not that easy to arrange (logistics) at the last minute like this.”


One plus is the weather. After several days of record-breaking rainfall, the National Weather Service forecasts generally sunny days through the first part of next week.


For much of Wednesday, however, getting around has been difficult, with many commuters being delayed by an hour or more because of closed roads. The closing of several canyon roads between the Valley and the Los Angeles basin has been a particular problem; commuters were left getting onto the freeways that were near gridlock in parts for much of the morning.


“It’s just basically really hard to work,” said George Suku, president of USA Time Express, a trucking service. “The drivers have complained because the roads are closed and they get paid on commission so they’re complaining it takes too long to finish one job. I’d say 30 percent of the work is not getting done.”


Fasmer said that if a temporary repair can be made for Mulholland, the road could be operational within a couple of days. Completely rebuilding the roadway, however, could take months.


In Santa Barbara, heavily reliant on Los Angeles for visitor traffic, the effects of the road closure was already being felt.


“With people not being able to come up from L.A., our business has dropped sharply,” said Jason McCarthy, general manager of the Sandman Inn in Santa Barbara.


McCarthy estimated that the Sandman Inn had 20 to 25 percent fewer guests over the weekend. At the Holiday Inn in Goleta, General Manager Gary Opdahl said that the hotel saw about a 35 to 40 percent reduction in visitors from Los Angeles and Orange County.


“The impact on weekend business is significant,” said Opdahl. “All those nice people in the L.A./Orange County market, they don’t want to load up the car and spend time driving in the rain.”


Santa Barbara hotels did not totally empty out over the weekend. Some rooms were occupied with guests who were unable to leave Santa Barbara until the rain passed.


Chivaun Clark, general manager of the Best Western in Santa Barbara, said, “Our overall business is good because folks are trapped here. So unfortunately, we’ve gained.”


But area general managers were optimistic that the storm’s impact would be limited. No hotels reported severe structural damage.


–Andy Fixmer, David Greenberg, Rachel Brown and Kim Holmes contributed to this story.

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