Face-Lift for Topanga Canyon Blvd.

Topanga Canyon Boulevard is getting all torn up, but officials say when the work is done it will mean a smoother flow of traffic--and a better look.

The state Department of Transportation is spending $6.2 million to spruce up eight miles of Topanga Canyon Boulevard, starting just south of Ventura Boulevard and ending at the Ronald Reagan Freeway.

Repairs will include removing a concrete median and using the extra space for additional left-turn lanes.

The street will also be resurfaced, and crews will replace buckled sidewalks and damaged curbs and gutters along the road while installing at least 16 new traffic signals.

The work, which began in June, is expected to be completed March 18.

A few merchants along Topanga Canyon Boulevard said they are not happy with the roadwork. But no one said it would hurt their business.

“Some customers complain,” said Michel Gour, owner of Pastries by Edie. “I think it’s a good improvement. If it looks nice and clean, people come.”

“I haven’t seen any difference,” said Abraham Salcedo, a manager at Tommy’s Famous Hamburgers. “The weather is what hurts business. It’s too hot.”

Topanga Canyon Boulevard, which is used by more than 40,000 motorists a day, has needed a face-lift for some time, according to state and local officials.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Laura Chick, whose West Valley district includes the southern stretch of the boulevard, said the repairs are welcome. But after fighting for years to win funding, she said the state action was long overdue.

“Topanga Canyon Boulevard is emblematic of the problems that arise when the state fails to maintain its highways,” Chick said. “Luckily, Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) understood this problem and worked with me to get state money to complete the repairs.”

Kuehl’s office said it had originally submitted a budget request in 1996 to fund the repaving of Topanga Canyon Boulevard, but the funding was later cut out. In 1998, the request was folded into the state transportation improvement program.

Built in the early 1930s, Topanga Canyon Boulevard--State Route 27--begins at the Pacific Ocean and winds through the Santa Monica Mountains before cutting through the San Fernando Valley communities of Woodland Hills, Canoga Park and Chatsworth on its way to the Ronald Reagan Freeway.

Unlike many of the Valley’s north-south roads, Topanga Canyon Boulevard is divided by a median strip probably put in during the 1960s, mostly to control traffic in what was then a largely rural area, according to an engineer.

A Los Angeles city official who asked not to be identified said the city has previously asked that the boulevard, which is designated as a state road, be relinquished to the city. But the official also said the city did not want to get stuck with a large repair bill before it took control of the roadway.

Potholes, uneven sidewalks and long stretches of worn pavement are common in urban areas. And since the 1994 Northridge earthquake, some complain the eyesores are emblematic of how the West Valley’s major north-south thoroughfare has gone downhill.