“In 2014, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA), a partner agency to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (SMMC) and Lead Agency for the Park Project, received funding from the County to develop designs to turn the 500-acre decommissioned landfill site into the Mission Canyon Park Project. Joe Edmiston, SMMC executive director, envisions Mission Canyon as part of the 21,000-acre BIG WILD trail network of connected open space within the Santa Monica Mountains, stretching from the Riordan Trail in Mountaingate to the Mulholland Scenic Corridor, which links the Valley to the Westside, to Sullivan and Rustic Canyons, as well as Topanga State Park, creating one of the largest urban parklands in the world.

In 2018, MRCA presented its Mission Canyon Park environmental and project design proposal to the public. The proposal included a primary entrance at Sepulveda Blvd. and a secondary entrance accessible from Mulholland Drive. Some Brentwood community organizations and Institutions opposed the Mulholland entrance and parking lot due to their concern for increased traffic and potential conflicts with school drop-off and pick-up in the area. They requested one entrance at Sepulveda and a traffic study to ensure Sepulveda Blvd. could be reconfigured to handle park traffic safely and mitigate impacts to the Corridor and the local residential community. The Mulholland entrance and parking lot were removed from the project and the County agreed to engage in a new traffic study and environmental review process focused on the Sepulveda entrance and parking lot since so much of the infrastructure is already in place there.

In 2020, feasibility and traffic findings were presented to the public at a scoping hearing. The new proposal included a traffic signal at the intersection of Sepulveda Blvd. and Mission Canyon Road and alignment at the Sepulveda Park entry. This important traffic mitigation would add approximately $5-million to the cost of the project and take 9-12 months for construction.

The Proposal:
The proposed Mission Canyon Park improvements include a 105-space parking lot, a picnic area, fitness stairs, water tanks, restrooms, maintenance storage, ranger residence, and a 2.5-mile loop trail with regional connection to the Westridge-Canyonback Wilderness Park.”