Laurel Canyon Boulevard closure affecting area businesses

HOLLYWOOD HILLS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Local business owners say their profits are suffering because of the closure of Laurel Canyon Boulevard, which was shut down after a part of a retaining wall slid down a hillside.

"It's a disaster, the last two days the road is closed," said Lida Levian of Laurel Canyon Cleaners.

Levian said her business and other local markets and restaurants in and around Laurel Canyon Boulevard are suffering.

"Ninety-nine percent is dead, because the people, they don't know we are open," Levian said.

David Clark, who runs a local newsstand, said business can get slow when it rains - but not like this.

"A lot of it is the road closing," Clark said.

The 9,000-pound slab of concrete still blocked Laurel Canyon Boulevard Friday, three days after it broke away from a home's foundation and tumbled down a residential hillside, saturated with days of heavy rain.

Crews have to stabilize the hillside and remove debris before the road can reopen. The earliest for that to happen is Monday night.

Not only is the closure affecting businesses, it is causing traffic headaches for commuters.

The boulevard is a vital route for many commuters, and its closure puts pressure on alternate routes like Coldwater Canyon Drive.