A rockslide caused westbound lanes of Pacific Coast Highway west of Topanga Canyon Boulevard to close for nearly 24 hours from Monday evening at 7 p.m. through Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m.
The slide, likely caused by weekend rains, loosened rocks and debris from the “active slide” area near Las Tunas Canyon Road, strewing rocks across the westbound lanes of PCH. The gradual slide continued until after 9 p.m. Monday.
For nearly the first hour, traffic was at a standstill heading west into Malibu from Santa Monica, though by 8:10 p.m. westbound traffic had been redirected into the median.
In a precautionary measure Tuesday, Caltrans engineers placed 10 large concrete barriers, called K-Rails, beside the lanes in an effort to protect the roadway, before reopening the lanes for traffic at about 4 p.m.
Westbound lanes of the highway will be closed from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays from Thursday, July 23 through Wednesday, July 29, with westbound traffic down to a single lane and diverted through the median, according to an alert issued by Caltrans. Motorists should expect delays.