Repair of Street Takes a Long and Winding Road

Laurel Canyon residents never expected to have to make a federal case out of a collapsed street in order to get it fixed.

But that’s what happened when a landslide destroyed pavement along Woodstock Road during the heavy rains of 2005 and sent governmental agencies tumbling into a debate over responsibility for the $1-million repair job.

The winding, narrow street meanders along ridge tops in the Hollywood Hills. It has been closed to through traffic for 18 months, since an unusual storm cell stalled above the Mt. Olympus area and dumped what residents say was 5 1/2 inches of rain in one hour.

The deluge washed away about 50 feet of pavement in the roadway’s 2600 block.

The landslide damaged three homes down the hill from the street. Two of them remain red-tagged and uninhabitable.

Los Angeles officials anticipated quick work on Woodstock Road after local and state officials declared a state of emergency, paving the way for federal funding for the repairs.

City street workers had begun moving equipment to the slide site last year when the Federal Emergency Management Agency suddenly refused to allocate disaster money to Woodstock Road.

The reason? When the 20-foot-wide paved street was constructed in 1926, it was apparently considered such an important roadway for the sparsely inhabited Santa Monica Mountains that it was listed on a national registry.

And 80 years later that means that the humble hillside lane is considered a federal highway -- and ineligible for FEMA funding.

Without the disaster money, the city’s Street Maintenance Division was forced to postpone repairs until it could either pay for the work itself or wrangle cash from the Federal Highway Administration.

At first the closure delighted many Hollywood Hills homeowners who had watched over the years as Woodstock became a heavily used shortcut between Laurel and Nichols canyons and an alternate route to rush-hour-jammed Laurel Canyon Boulevard.

“For me, it’s a dream come true, not having to deal with traffic,” said one longtime resident -- a television personality who asked not to be identified. “I’ve loved the fact that a street that’s usually very busy has been closed.”

Other residents began worrying, though

“It’s a matter of safety and access by the Fire Department and paramedics,” said Orrin Feldman, a retired lawyer who has lived on Woodstock for seven years and serves as vice president of the area’s neighborhood council.

“There was a large fire last year in Nichols Canyon and firetrucks had to go extra miles out of their way to get there,” he said. “That fire could have been here. There’s a major risk factor involved here.”

City Councilman Tom LaBonge, who represents the neighborhood, appealed to the area’s congressman to cut through the federal red tape.

Like everyone else, he was surprised that the street was considered a highway.

“It’s a very local street. I’m anxious for people to get some normalcy back to their lives up there,” LaBonge said.

Rep. Howard Berman (D-Valley Village) pressured the Federal Highway Administration, only to learn that highway officials were balking at paying for what was being classified as “permanent restoration” since city engineers were proposing to shore up the road with a cantilevered concrete bulkhead designed to last at least 100 years.

At the urging of residents and city leaders, federal officials agreed to label the road repair an “emergency opening” so work could proceed.

City street maintenance division spokeswoman Michelle Vargas said the landslide repair finally began last week -- now that the feds have caved in.