The Southern California Gas Company recently released information regarding the closing of Sullivan Canyon to the public (see below for the press release).
A comment was made on our blog alleging that the area had been closed due to an incident involving a mountain biker being seriously injured. According to Public Affairs Manager Krista Phipps, the area was not closed as a direct result of the incident, but in response to several factors. “I was told by the Project Manager that [the incident which caused injury to the mountain biker] did not occur at the construction site. However, it was serious and required the person to be airlifted out of the canyon. Overall, there have been a series of close calls in and around the construction site and we just do not want to risk injury to the public or our employees,” said Phipps.
Please note that Sullivan Canyon is NOT public property. It is owned and operated by the Southern California Gas Company which maintains it as open to the public unless work to the gas line is necessary. The Gas Co. can rescind permission to access Sullivan Canyon at any time. In this case, many users will be effected, not just mountain bikers. This surely will come down to a blame game with mountain bikers bearing the brunt of criticism, and to a large degree rightly so. All we can ask is that you ride safely for the conditions, and remember that your actions represent the entire mountain bike community.
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October 29, 2012
RE: Sullivan Canyon Closure – Southern California Gas Company Pipeline Protection Project
Dear Neighbor:
In follow up to the notice of September 17, 2012 regarding the Sullivan Canyon Maintenance Project, this correspondence is to inform you that in spite of our efforts to complete the project without impeding public access, we have determined that in order to maintain public safety, Sullivan Canyon will be closed to the public during the hours of 6am to 6pm Monday thru Saturday, effective immediately. This schedule will be maintained throughout the duration of the project to ensure safe operation of two high-pressure transmission pipelines located in the canyon. The project is expected to be completed by December 31, 2012. Please note that this completion date is an approximation and may change due to the needs of the project.
Additional closures and/or further restrictions will be posted on the gate at Queensferry Road and at the entrance to the property off of Mulholland Drive in advance, to the extent feasible. We apologize for the inconvenience caused by this necessary work to ensure pipeline safety and maintenance of a reliable natural gas supply to the Los Angeles basin area. SoCal Gas appreciates your understanding of the need for this maintenance work and temporary disruption of canyon access. It is our goal to keep disruptions to a minimum and we regret temporary inconveniences.
Safety is our first priority. We appreciate customers and members of the community keeping us informed on conditions surrounding our facilities. Please feel free to share this notice with your networks which have an interest in the canyon.
Thank you for your understanding while we perform this necessary maintenance and repair work. Should you have any questions, please call me at (323) 371-0011 or email me at kphipps@semprautilities.com.
Tags: Advocacy, trail closures
Please stop telling everyone that the Gas Co. OWNS Sullivan Canyon. AFAIK, The Gas CO. DOES NOT OWN Sullivan Canyon…The Gas Co. OWNS PART OF Sullivan Canyon…roughly one half; the rest is owned by L.A.County; I have seen maps–USGS, I think– that show the dividing line running roughly north/south down the center line of the canyon.
If the County had sold the land to the Gas Co., don’t you think we’d have heard about it sometime in the last 30 years?
The map also shows the County portion as belonging to the Los Angeles County Sanitation District—which means they were planning to make into a landfill garbage dump.
Thanks for your observations, Keith. The bottom line is that access to the area that people use to enjoy the trail, either from the north or south, is controlled by the Gas Company.
I hate the closure and dozing of Sullivan Canyon as much as anyone (probably more as I literally go into a funk when I can’t ride it!), but I have to say that The Gas Company personnel (especially Tommy, the foreman for the latest construction) did a stand up job in helping get a seriously injured rider assistance. I was the lucky guy who found the rider, Randall, completely immobile after he had a bad crash and had been laying there for over an hour. This was last Saturday, 10/27/12. The Gas Company weren’t stopping people from entering the canyon on this particular day despite the closure signs (they said this was the only day there’d be an exception).
Bottom line is that The Gas Company guys were more than willing to help me out, contact 911, and help get the paramedics to the downed rider. There was a lot of hiking in for anyone not on a bike due to a large pit in the road and they, along with the paramedics, hoofed it in to get to the rider. I made them aware that this had nothing to do with their construction and they still didn’t even hesitate to help out.
Randall was ultimately airlifted out and I know Tommy was there through it all as the paramedics went to work, so kudos to him.
I didn’t get Randall’s contact info… I truly hope he came through okay as it didn’t look good.
–Blaine
Thanks Blaine. We are, after all, a trail user community, and we should all be looking out for one another, not trying to pit ourselves against each other.
I just now called the number on the press release and was told that the project is complete. We can once again enjoy Sullivan Canyon.
David, thanks for posting your comments. We reported on the re-opening back on December 3rd, but you remind us we should sometimes consider adding an update to older stories once there is something new to report. Have a great 2013, and enjoy riding the Santa Monica Mountains.