PCH Lanes Reopen After Landslide

Update: 3:29 p.m.: All lanes of Pacific Coast Highway at Temescal Canyon Road have been reopened, says Patrick Chandler of Caltrans.

Update 2:45 p.m.: Caltrans spokesman Patrick Chandler says they have removed 28 truckloads, or about 150 yard of debris, including mud and dirt. They are installing six, 20,000-pound K-rails at the site of the landslide as well. The roots from the removed tree were left in the ground to keep the ground as stable as possible. Chandler says they estimate to reopen the PCH northbound between 3 and 5 p.m. and recommended drivers use alternate routes for travel, such as Malibu Canyon Road.

Original: A landslide closed the northbound lanes of Pacific Coast Highway near Temescal Canyon Road for several hours on Thursday.

The slide was reported around 4:15 a.m., according to the California Highway Patrol's online Traffic Incident Information page. Some structures are at the top of the hillside area, but no injuries were reported.

An evergreen tree on mobile home park property at the edge of the slide was being cut down this morning.

A half-mile stretch of northbound PCH remained closed at Temescal Canyon Road Thursday afternoon. It was unclear when the roadway would be reopened.

"Caltrans geologists consulted with the property owner's geologists,'' Patrick Chandler, a Caltrans spokesman, told Channel ABC7. "They're going to chop (down) one of the trees up there, but leave the root system in place to provide stability for the slope.''

Southbound lanes remained open through the closure, but commuters complained of long delays.

Scott Wagenseller, who sent photos of the slide to Patch, wrote in an email that a tree near the slide is unstable. If it falls, it may cause damage to power lines, Wagenseller wrote.

Preliminary information indicates the slide may have been caused by a garden hose that was left running overnight, Wagenseller wrote.

Crews were planning to line that section of the road with K-rails.

Students heading to Pepperdine's Malibu campus were advised in an email to take alternative routes, including the 405 to Sunset Boulevard and the 405 to the 101 Freeways, exiting at Malibu Canyon/Las Virgenes Road.

-City News Service and Patch Editor Matthew Sanderson contributed to this report.

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