If you drive west on Foothill Boulevard toward the 2 Freeway, there's a stretch on the 1700 block, near Lutheran Church in the Foothills, where the pavement sags. There are warning signs at the curb and no-parking markings next to the low spot. Years ago the La Cañada Valley Sun reported that the city put those up so drivers could see the depression coming.
The dip has now been there for seven and a half years. Most people assume the delay comes down to who pays. That question was settled in 2025. The money has been budgeted for two fiscal years, and the land under the road has nearly stopped moving. What the repair still lacks is a construction method the city can actually hire someone to carry out. That's the item the City Council takes up on November 17.
A water line, an Easter Sunday, and a repair that left a low spot
The dip began on April 21, 2019, Easter Sunday. That day a 24-inch water pipe operated by Foothill Municipal Water District broke under the inner eastbound lane of Foothill, just west of Alta Canyada Road. The Valley Sun reported that crews dug about 12 feet down to reach the 65-year-old pipeline. When they filled the holes and reopened the road, it was left with a noticeable depression.
The low spot didn't stay put. In August 2019 the city filed a complaint in Los Angeles County Superior Court. It said the subsidence was spreading out from the repair site, the westbound lanes were sinking, cracks were appearing, and the median was warping. The city asked the court to order a repair. The city had been measuring the road weekly since late June of that year. At the time, it had recorded less than an inch of movement over that stretch.
That first reading of under an inch is worth remembering. The latest survey, covered below, measures movement in hundredths of a foot.
The money question closed in 2025
The dispute was settled. The city's adopted FY 2025–26 budget records that the water district made a one-time payment of $1.75 million in FY 2024–25 under a settlement agreement. The city moved that money from its General Fund into the Capital Projects Fund as the district's share of the repair cost.
The repair costs far more than the settlement covers. The FY 2025–26 budget set aside $5,070,000 for the project. The FY 2026–27 budget raised it to $5,118,140. Only about $32,000 was expected to be spent in the year before. So the money has mostly been waiting for a job to pay for.
At a May 6, 2025 budget session, the City Manager said the capital improvement fund started at $10 million. The Foothill remediation would take half of that base amount, and most of the rest would go to traffic signal projects. The meeting minutes record him calling it a project with significant financial risk, real potential for cost overruns, and potential for significant disruption.
What the repair actually involves
The work is much bigger than a repaving. The city's project description centers on a corrugated metal pipe about 45 feet below Foothill Boulevard that also runs under the church parking lot. GMU Geotechnical and Geologists, Inc. received the design contract in December 2024. Willdan Engineering was hired in May 2025 to manage and inspect construction.
The plan was built in three phases.
| Phase | What happens | Where |
|---|---|---|
| One | Dig a jacking pit and push a 36-inch HDPE pipe north and south to strengthen the existing pipe | Lutheran Church in the Foothills parking lot, about 45 feet down |
| Two | Pressure-grout the soil to stabilize it to roughly 45 feet deep | Under Foothill, El Camino Porto to Cypress Drive |
| Three | Install FMWD's permanent 24-inch water line, replace the median, curb and gutter, landscape and resurface | The roadway itself |
Phase two is the one that hits traffic. In the May 2025 minutes, the Director of Public Works said soil injection could cause significant disruption and carried cost risk because its costs are hard to predict. A council member noted that the injection method is expected to last 15 to 20 years. The plan was to start underground, in the church lot. That way the work most likely to snarl Foothill would come only after the pipe underneath was reinforced.
Why spring 2026 came and went
Phase one has repeatedly slipped. In May 2025, staff expected to advertise it shortly and finish before October 15 that year. By September 2025 the advertisement target was October. By November 2025 it was December.
Here's how 2026 went, according to the Public Works status report in the October 20, 2026 Council packet.
- February 17: Council approved a right-of-entry agreement with Lutheran Church in the Foothills, adopted the plans and specifications, and authorized bidding on phase one.
- March 19: Three bids came in.
- Review: Staff found the apparent low bidder non-responsive, citing missing information and pricing discrepancies. Staff also judged that bidder not responsible because it lacked experience with projects of similar scope and complexity.
- April 17: Council rejected all three bids.
- July 29: Staff resurveyed the road.
- Since then: Staff has been working with a contractor experienced in this kind of work on an alternative way to strengthen the existing pipe. The options and costs go to the Council on November 17.
The project stalled on qualifications. Reinforcing a pipe 45 feet underground by jacking new pipe through it is specialized work. The lowest price came from a bidder the city didn't consider equipped to do it.
The ground has nearly stopped moving
The July survey is the reason the council now has time to choose a method instead of rushing one. Staff checked 73 survey points. Twenty-nine showed additional settlement between 0.03 and 0.06 feet. The other 44 showed less than 0.03 feet. Measured against the previous survey, dated April 15, 2024, staff called that added settlement negligible.
In practical terms, 0.06 feet is under three-quarters of an inch, and that's the upper bound across more than two years. Back in 2019, the city's lawsuit described subsidence "radiating" outward and getting worse. Seven years later the city's own measurements describe a dip that has largely settled into place.
That shifts what November 17 is about. When the road was sinking, speed mattered most. With movement now in hundredths of a foot, the council can weigh method, cost and disruption against each other. Before, it could only weigh them against the clock.
How a Foothill project looks when it finishes
The same October packet includes a comparison elsewhere on the boulevard. The HAWK pedestrian signal at 200 Foothill Boulevard, near Saint Francis High School, started construction on June 22, 2026, with completion set for September 9. It was delayed while Southern California Edison energized the service cabinet, which happened on September 12, and while the poles arrived. Work resumed September 30, and the signal was installed and running on October 15.
That signal was about five weeks late, and its holdups were utility hookups and equipment deliveries. The dip faces a different kind of problem. Its main work happens 45 feet underground, on a project the City Manager said carries real uncertainties, and a qualified contractor has to be found before work can start. Foothill has seen this kind of disruption before. The farmers market detour showed how a single lot closure can ripple through the town's routines.
What to watch on November 17
The Council meets at 6 p.m. at City Hall on Tuesday, November 17. That's also the night set for Donald R. Voss's ceremonial oath of office, and the city notes that the oath item's start time may vary. Council agendas and packets are on the city's agendas and minutes page.
Three things in that packet will show what comes next for the 1700 block:
- What the alternative actually changes. The October report describes it as a new way to strengthen the existing pipe. Watch whether the jacking pit in the church lot stays in the plan.
- Cost compared with the $5,118,140 budget. In 2025, council members warned about the risk of underestimating. The new number will show whether that warning still applies.
- Whether soil injection remains phase two. That's the part staff said could cause significant disruption on Foothill. Its timing will matter far more to daily drivers than anything happening in the church parking lot.
Until then, the signs, the parking restrictions and the familiar drop on the 1700 block stay where they've been since 2019.
Major roadwork can affect showings, moving-day logistics and how buyers first experience a street. If you own near this part of Foothill and are thinking about timing a sale, Thomas Atamian + Associates follows these Council decisions closely and can help you plan around the construction calendar. Request a Confidential Consultation.
