PCH Reopens After Water Main Break

Pacific Coast Highway was reopened Sunday afternoon, two days after a broken water main dried up the water supply for some 5,000 Malibu residents and shut off the highway to beach-goers and Ventura County commuters heading to Los Angeles.

Authorities expected to keep the highway from Encinal Canyon Road south to Topanga Canyon Boulevard closed to nonresidents through this morning to conserve scarce water, but decided to open the stretch of highway to commuters about 3 p.m. Sunday.

“We figured by 3 o’clock, beach-goers would have stopped and people would just be commuting through,” said Melinda Barrett, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Public Works Department. A leak in a high-pressure main depleted the water district’s tanks, leaving only whatever was still in the pipes for residents and businesses. By Sunday afternoon, 200 homes were still without water and were expected to be reconnected by today.

Most traffic backups occurred at the highway’s southern detour near Topanga Canyon, and for about a mile west of Encinal Canyon Road, said Leo Ortiz, traffic management center operator for Caltrans. Traffic crews left the area about 3 p.m.

“They were there for heavy traffic,” Ortiz said. “It should resume to normal soon.”