STUDIO CITY >> Mountain commuters and travelers take note: Laurel Canyon Boulevard was fully reopened Saturday afternoon after damage to the road from recent rain was repaired.
The twisty thoroughfare between Studio City and West Hollywood was reopened at 1:30 p.m. after being closed since dawn to complete work following a month of rain-induced landslides.
• MORE PHOTOS: Removing barriers on Laurel Canyon Boulevard
“City agencies have worked around the clock to provide safeguards to hillside neighborhoods due to unprecedented rainstorms,” said Councilman David Ryu, whose district includes the Hollywood Hills, in a statement.
“This has been a priority for the City and we have moved with speed and caution to ensure that we could safely reopen Laurel Canyon to both commuters and residents.”
The road was closed at 6 a.m. between Mulholland and Kirkwood Drives when the Bureau of Street Services began removing K-rails from the center lane of Laurel Canyon Blvd to enable street surface grinding and cleaning.
The detour was the latest closure since a series of rain storms precipitated slides in the iconic canyon made famous by rock star residents from Frank Zappa to Jim Morrison to Neil Young. It was recently made popular in a 2002 film, “Laurel Canyon,” starring Frances McDormand, Christian Bale and Kate Beckinsale.
The winding route is heavily traveled by commuters from the San Fernando Valley to Los Angeles.
Laurel Canyon Boulevard was first closed on Jan. 11, when part of a home’s concrete foundation and patio slid down a rain-soaked hillside onto the street below.
City workers had hoped to paint stripes in the middle of the meandering road Saturday, but a threat of rain forced them to postpone the work until between midnight Tuesday and the morning rush hour.
A spokesman for Ryu said the road would remain open during the re-striping.
The closure of Laurel Canyon Boulevard on Saturday resulted in long lines of traffic up to Mulholland Drive, where only local traffic was allowed to pass through to Kirkwood.
For information, visit www.emergency.lacity.org/laurelcanyonclosure.
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