March 02--Runyon Canyon, that seeming backdrop in at least one photo of every Angeleno's Instagram feed and home to countless photo shoots, will be closed for three months starting in April, city officials said.
You can blame an aging 6-inch pipe stretching a mile through the park.
All but Runyon Canyon's yoga field will be closed to the public in April, May and June, according to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
The new pipe is expected to provide better fire protection and improve water quality for the park, the agency said.
Construction will be ongoing from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. every weekday and some weekends.
On Wednesday, the city gave preliminary approval to the department's first rate increase in four years. With a 12-2 vote, the City Council gave its go-ahead to DWP's systemwide 4.7% rate increase for water and 3.86% increase for power, each year for five years.
A Times analysis published last year found that about one-fifth of the city's water pipes were installed before 1931 and nearly all will reach the end of their useful lives in the next 15 years. They are responsible for close to half of all water main leaks, and replacing them is a looming, $1-billion problem for the city.
The analysis found that older hillside areas -- like Ruynon Canyon -- tended to have a high number of leaks.
A Times database found at least 10 leaks along Runyon Canyon Road alone.
Times staff writer Matt Stevens contributed to this report.
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