After many delays, the final stage of Southern California Edison’s Topanga Utility Underground Project is scheduled to begin on September 10 and set to be completed in approximately two months. Some of the work will happen during the daytime but most will be done at night. These dates and times are subject to change due to unforeseen operational factors or inclement weather. Work hours will vary based on permit conditions.
Improvements will only affect those in and around the downtown area.
Southern California Edison (SCE) will be replacing several old distribution poles, and removing a number of poles and sections of overhead electrical wires and equipment in the downtown area. The overhead poles and wires are being replaced with underground facilities. SCE will also be replacing two existing streetlights that are located at the intersection of Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Old Topanga Canyon Road, with new streetlights.
Project Area
This work will take place on Topanga Canyon Boulevard and on Old Topanga Canyon Road, including the intersections of Old Topanga Canyon Road and Cuesta Cala Road. Traffic will be impacted within the boundaries identified on the project map. Message boards will be posted in advance of the work zone. Intermittent lane closures will be in place during work hours.
What to Expect
There will be trenching at the intersection of Cuesta Cala Road. SCE will be accessing underground vaults to install wiring. Services will be reconnected to the new, underground electrical system. To ensure your safety during construction, there will be intermittent traffic lane and sidewalk closures. Crew members will use appropriate traffic control signs and flags. For crews to work safely, SCE will schedule power outages during construction. In these cases, we will notify you by phone, text, email and mail at least 72 hours prior to the outages. Only a small area of Topanga will be affected by the outages and those residents/businesses will be notified accordingly.
You can sign up to receive outage alerts through your preferred method of communication via sce.com/outage or :1-800-655-4555. ,
If you have questions, please visit the website: sce.com/upgrades
If you use medical equipment in your home, SCE offers a Medical Baseline program.
Three months of absolutely no activity has delayed the project. The powers that be don’t seem to care. Typical for a Calabasas road project. Perhaps the worst run small city in the entire state of California.
Three months. No activity.
Instead of doing the project during Covid, the City waited until school was back in session. The result – typically disastrous. Another brilliant project by the City of Calabasas.
What are the odds it won’t be finished until next September?
Dear Fed Up-Resident, (would you like to be referred to as Fed or Mr. or Mrs. Up-Resident?).
We are representatives of the City of Calabasas. We are here to help! If you read the article “Topanga Utility Underground Project: Electrical System Upgrades in the Downtown Area of Topanga,” you would indeed have seen that it says, “[t]hese dates and times are subject to change.” To a capable reader, that means that we can take as much time as needed in order to produce a satisfactory result. You implied that you wanted us to labor over this problem during a global pandemic, and not doing so gleaned “disastrous” results. Were we confused as to the nature of these results? Yes! As to the matter of probability of completion, we’ll give you great odds! (hint: a sizable donation (100,000+) in addition to your equally sizable taxes get things moving like clockwork). Thanks very much for your feedback, Fed! We hope this project is completed.*
*We still reserve the right to complete it on our own terms.