Crews make "significant progress" on West Hollywood water main repairs, but officials say they still don't know the extent of damage
Officials said crews made "significant progress" overnight on repairs for the broken water main that's caused massive damage on the streets of West Hollywood and forced an unknown number of residents out of their homes.
During a news conference on Saturday morning, West Hollywood Mayor John Heilman and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power COO Anselmo Collins said they were encouraged by progress and hoped to reopen the roads, closed since Thursday, as soon as possible.
"We made some really great progress," Collins said. "As of 5:30 [Saturday morning], the welders completed [the pipe section replacement]."
Crews removed a 25-foot-long section of the pipe, and welders completed the job ahead of schedule, LASWP said.
Officials said the next steps include performing pressure tests, disinfecting the pipe and refilling it with fresh drinking water before collecting quality samples. After that, the road will be repaved.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has been working since Thursday morning to repair a water main break from a 36-inch trunk line. The rupture took place near Sunset Boulevard and Holloway Drive just before 3 a.m.
The incident caused a large sinkhole to open and severe flooding on the streets of West Hollywood. No injuries have been reported, but an unknown number of residents have been displaced from their homes, and many businesses had to close their doors.
Heilman said all businesses in the area are impacted to "different degrees." As of Saturday morning, two buildings remain without power.
All drinking water in the city is safe, Collins added.
Collins said he couldn't provide a specific time for streets to reopen, and he can't guarantee they'll be open by Monday.
"We're working as quickly as possible," he said.
Road closures
Several streets in the area remain closed as crews continue working. Officials urge people to avoid the area and use alternate routes.
Hard closures (no through access)
- Horn Ave at Sunset Blvd, near the incident location
- San Vicente Blvd / N Clark St at Sunset Blvd (no eastbound traffic on Sunset Blvd from San Vicente Blvd/Clark St)
- Larrabee St at Sunset Blvd, north side
- Larrabee St at Sunset Blvd, south side
- Larrabee St at Santa Monica Blvd
- Palm Ave at Santa Monica Blvd
Soft closures (local residents and emergency vehicles only)
- Shoreham Dr at Sunset Blvd
- Holloway Dr between Palm Ave and Hancock Ave
- San Vicente Blvd at Cynthia St, near Fire Station 7
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said people passing through soft closure points should have an ID or proof of residency readily available.
Residents on Larrabee St north of Sunset Blvd can reach home via Clark St and Ozeta Terrace. When leaving the area, use the same route in reverse, Ozeta Terrace to Clark St, to reconnect with Sunset Blvd.