Mulholland Highway(Topanga Canyon CA-27 to PCH CA-1)

[pderocco]

Thanks for the information. So it wasn't ever planned for Mulholland Road through the now closed part only open for hikers and cyclists from Topanga Canyon to Encino Hills Dr to the 101... That's interesting it seems like they would plan on a state highway having a direct connection to another major highway going straight to LA as opposed to the 405.

"Dirt Mulholland" as it's known locally was intended to be paved in the 1920s. But public pressure caused it to remain unpaved and only open to pedestrians and bikers. Part of the push for CA-268, presumably, was that it would have linked to the CA-14 extension that was planned down Reseda Boulevard, and eventually would wind up on Temescal Canyon Road. But it sounds like by 1970s, plans to pave it and make it part of the state highway system were canceled. Probably similar public pressure.

It wasn't always limited to peds. In my early visits to SoCal back in the 1980s, I drove it a couple of times. The north-facing overlooks were littered with broken beer bottles, so it was clear that it was a popular place for teens or college kids to drink and whatever. I always thought it was shut down in order to eliminate that less reputable use of the road.

[pderocco]

Kanan-Dume was built in the 1950s. So it came after the initial wave of state highways. It's nowadays a county highway. I always felt it would have made a better CA-23, but it never got adopted for w/e reason. Originally Latigo Canyon Road was the way down from Mulholland Highway to PCH. It's a long, twisty drive that isn't recommended. I believe it was around 1955 Kanan-Dume Road was completed.

The southern segment of Encinal Canyon Rd would have been a better choice than the southern segment of Decker. It's longer, but you can drive it so much faster that it's actually quicker.

[Quillz]

Thanks for the information. So it wasn't ever planned for Mulholland Road through the now closed part only open for hikers and cyclists from Topanga Canyon to Encino Hills Dr to the 101... That's interesting it seems like they would plan on a state highway having a direct connection to another major highway going straight to LA as opposed to the 405.

"Dirt Mulholland" as it's known locally was intended to be paved in the 1920s. But public pressure caused it to remain unpaved and only open to pedestrians and bikers. Part of the push for CA-268, presumably, was that it would have linked to the CA-14 extension that was planned down Reseda Boulevard, and eventually would wind up on Temescal Canyon Road. But it sounds like by 1970s, plans to pave it and make it part of the state highway system were canceled. Probably similar public pressure.

It wasn't always limited to peds. In my early visits to SoCal back in the 1980s, I drove it a couple of times. The north-facing overlooks were littered with broken beer bottles, so it was clear that it was a popular place for teens or college kids to drink and whatever. I always thought it was shut down in order to eliminate that less reputable use of the road.

You can still drive portions of it until you reach the parking lots on either side. The western part of dirt Mulholland ends around Winnetka Avenue or so.

But I disagree that paving it and opening it to traffic is going to make a large difference in mitigating traffic on the 101 or 405. Or that the residents of Topanga would have closed off the road "if they had their way." I think geography of the area plays a much larger role than some kind of NIMBY plot.

[Plutonic Panda]

I'm well aware that there are trailheads on each side. Like I said, I'm very familiar with this area.

I will agree with you it's not going to dramatically change traffic issues in the immediate area. But selfishly for those like me who don't mind going out of their way even if it takes a little bit longer just so I don't have to sit in stop and go traffic, I would really appreciate it.

As a hiker, I wouldn't really mind so as long as they were able to keep a 4 to 5 foot hiking trail. I do enjoy hiking this area. The military bunkers are cool as well.

Needless to say, this whole conversation is pretty much moot. The public outcry and opposition would be off the charts.

PS, my plan for connecting any canyon roads would be to toll through traffic, but allow residents exemptions.

[Plutonic Panda]

Kanan-Dume was built in the 1950s. So it came after the initial wave of state highways. It's nowadays a county highway. I always felt it would have made a better CA-23, but it never got adopted for w/e reason. Originally Latigo Canyon Road was the way down from Mulholland Highway to PCH. It's a long, twisty drive that isn't recommended. I believe it was around 1955 Kanan-Dume Road was completed.

The southern segment of Encinal Canyon Rd would have been a better choice than the southern segment of Decker. It's longer, but you can drive it so much faster that it's actually quicker.

I wish at minimum they would four-lane Kanan.

[cahwyguy]

It wasn't always limited to peds. In my early visits to SoCal back in the 1980s, I drove it a couple of times. The north-facing overlooks were littered with broken beer bottles, so it was clear that it was a popular place for teens or college kids to drink and whatever. I always thought it was shut down in order to eliminate that less reputable use of the road.

Growing up in Brentwood (the 90049 one) and the Palisades, I remember the days of "whatever" :-). A long long time ago. As they say, in my yut! I don't think I ever drove the full length of it, but I know I did go a few miles in. I agree on the reason it was shutdown -- there was probably far too much fire risk as partying changed in the 1980s.

[Plutonic Panda]

It looks like the closed section known as the snake will be reopened soon. I went by today and checked it out. There are several what appeared to be construction access roads. The small open areas that allows cyclist and pedestrians to move past the barrier have been blocked off. Google Maps has the road reopening October 28th.

[Quillz]

As an aside, something odd about Topanga Canyon Boulevard/CA-27 is that it doesn't appear to actually be newer than Old Topanga Canyon Road to the west. That has never carried CA-27, and there's no evidence I've been able to find that it's actually an older road or alignment. Seems they have existed for roughly the same amount of time. So I'm not sure why that name was chosen.

It's probably the name that was "old". Perhaps the current alignment was called something else, and they wanted to steer traffic onto it, so they moved the name, and in a fit of creative genius came up with "Old Topanga Canyon Rd". Of course, they could have called it "Topanga Canyon Rd" because that's different from "Topanga Canyon Blvd".

This ended up being the case of sorts. There is actually a very small community called "Old Topanga," so presumably the name came from there. The only thing I could find was it seems in the early 1930s, what is today Valmar Road/Mulholland Highway/Old Topanga Canyon Road was known as "Dry Canyon Road," and this seems to be the origin of the "Dry Canyon Cold Creek Road" that has numerous junctions with modern Mulholland Highway.

On a somewhat related note, the Mulholland Highway/Old Topanga Canyon Road southwest junction is getting signalized. It also looks like the turning lane is now longer. I'm glad, I have to take this road to get to work sometimes and it was a huge bottleneck for years. There's a high school right by it, and this junction is utilized by tourists, people wanting to avoid CA-27, and others. I'm surprised it took this long to get signalized, although it's not ready yet.