Part of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu burn area reopens after weekend storm causes debris flow

A portion of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu that was closed over the weekend due to a debris flow has reopened to local residents, Caltrans announced.

Amid late April showers, a portion of the scenic coastal highway closed Saturday afternoon at Topanga Canyon Boulevard, Tuna Canyon Road and Big Rock Drive. By 4:30 p.m. road crews made significant progress to clear PCH, but there was too “much mud to clear still at Tuna Canyon Road,” the agency said in a social media post on X.

PCH reopened Sunday morning with soft closure restrictions, and was only open to residents with burn scar passes, contractors, emergency responders and designated Metro and school buses.

Over the weekend, a late season storm dropped about a quarter of an inch of rain across the Southland but up to half an inch in the Palisades fire burn area, said meteorologist Rose Schoenfeld with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

“It’s definitely a bit late in the month to get a system like this,” Schoenfeld said. “Every year at this time of the month can pull in a few late systems that bring rain.”

By the end of May, Caltrans expects to reopen a wider swath of the coastal highway, from Chautauqua Boulevard in Pacific Palisades to Carbon Beach Terrace in Malibu, to regular traffic.