Construction and overnight closures could begin as early as January on a project to rehabilitate tunnels on Malibu Canyon and Kanan Dume Roads.
The construction is expected to last for about seven months as work is completed on the Malibu Canyon Road tunnel, then the Kanan Dume first tunnel, closest to Malibu, while crews replace steel plates inside the tunnels and conduct other repair work, according to Mike Kaspar of L.A. County Public Works.
The Malibu Canyon tunnel will be fully closed for construction from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., seven days a week, but will reopen for use during the day. Electronic signs and detour route signs will be posted, Kaspar said, with traffic being redirected to Kanan Dume road from the Pacific Coast Highway, and to the Mulholland Highway or Agoura Road from Highway 101.
“[The work] is to install consistent steel plates along the inside of the tunnels,” Kaspar said. “The plates are designed to prevent any sort of debris or anything from falling inside the tunnel.”
When construction is completed on the Malibu Canyon tunnel, work will begin on Kanan Dume. The tunnel is not expected to be fully closed during scheduled work hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., with one lane remaining open in each direction, Kaspar said.
Kaspar said most of the work is preventative.
“Everything there at this point is structurally fine, it’s just that it’s obvious that there has been some deterioration,” he said. “This is preventative, to make sure that noting compromises safety.”
There will also be work to improve the lighting inside the tunnels.
The total cost of the project is about $5 million, with funding coming from Los Angeles County road funds and the state Proposition 1B Transportation Bond.