The critical roadway connecting Malibu to the San Fernando Valley was shuttered by mudslides in Topanga Canyon during historic storms in March and repairs were not expected to be completed until fall. The early reopening not only restores a key access point to the canyon community, but also provides a lifeline to residents who rely on the the road to evacuate from summer fires and businesses who rely on the road for visitor traffic.
“So many people used to drive through the canyon everyday and that just stopped overnight,” said co-director of the Topanga Canyon Farmers Market, Kate Kimmel. “Some of the restaurants’ sales were down 50%, so thank god it’s open because who knows what would have happened if they had to sustain that through the summer.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom delighted residents with the surprise announcement last Friday, saying the accelerated repairs were thanks to emergency federal funding and the 24/7 work of Caltrans crews. During the closure the main access point into Topanga was through Woodland Hills, causing a massive headache to anyone traveling to work or school on the westside of Los Angeles.
“A lot of parents that I know had a two-hour commute each way because of the closure and that would just wreck anyone’s life,” said Matthew Morgan, owner of Endless Color Pizza. “I think everybody is unanimously happy about our very unforeseen good fortune last weekend.”
Morgan said his restaurant experienced a huge drop in customers and he was forced to layoff employees in order to keep the businesses afloat.
Enrico Busto, owner of custom hat store Busto and Sun, said his business was also in a bad place even after he doubled down on digital marketing and pop-ups outside of Topanga.
“After two months and three months things were getting pretty, pretty harsh for the business,” said Busto. “It was such a sweet surprise because we really had no clue it would be reopening this soon.”
During the closure Busto and several other business owners worked together to launch a nonprofit called Visit Topanga Canyon to encourage more people to visit the area. The group also started a monthly street festival called Second Saturdays that showcases local food, music, vendors and artisans at Pine Tree Circle shopping center.
The inaugural event was a smashing success and its second iteration will take place on Saturday, June 8th, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., said Busto.
“I think one of the silver linings of the closure was that all the residents and business owners came together, really got to know each other and joined in this common goal of keeping our businesses alive,” said Kimmel.
Kimmel and her business partner Freddi Swanson helped relaunch the Topanga Canyon Farmers Market in March and she has been amazed by the number of people who came out every weekend.
“Our market became a big resource for residents who were looking for really high-quality produce and organic groceries during the closure,” she said. “And a lot of people came because they felt like ‘I want this farmer’s market to survive and I’m going to focus my energy to make sure that I support it every week’.”
As a mother of three, the early reopening of the canyon road is also a massive relief as she was becoming very nervous about what her family would do if a fire evacuation was needed this summer.
“Every time we’ve evacuated over the nine years that I’ve lived here we’ve driven down to the ocean, so with that route cut off it was going to actually start getting very dangerous,” she said.
Although two-way traffic has been restored on Topanga Canyon Boulevard, occasional one-way controls will be implemented to allow Caltrans to finish completing emergency repairs.
And the road to recovery will be a long one for local businesses.
“Realistically it’s gonna take a while to get back on people’s radar and for them to realize they should take a trip to Topanga,” said Morgan. “It’s going to take a lot of hard work and being clever, I think, to get our consistent traffic back.”
Fortunately, Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath has partnered with the county’s Department of Economic Opportunity to offer recovery grants of up to $10,000 to impacted businesses. She also repeatedly visited the canyon and met with business owners during the closure.
“It’s a drop in the bucket compared to what we’ve lost, but it will definitely put a band-aid on some repairs we need to do,” said Morgan, referring to the recovery grant. “And it’s also a symbolic gesture. It’s really nice that it’s being made available.”