Bouquet Canyon Road Is Still Closed. How the Plum Canyon Corner Gets Through to January

Vincenzo's has been on the corner for 35 years.

In July, LeeAnn Willis stood in the parking lot at Bouquet Canyon and Plum Canyon roads. She runs the Vincenzo's pizzeria on that corner with her husband. She told The Signal that customers responded after the couple emailed them.

Customer response is still doing that work. The Santa Clarita City Council has now approved real money for the businesses here. The timeline and eligibility rules mean that money lands late in the closure and may miss some of the shops hit hardest. For the next few months, the corner depends mostly on people who know how to get there.

Where the closure stands in early October

Bouquet Canyon Road is closed from Plum Canyon Road to David Way. The City's posted detour uses Haskell Canyon Road and Copper Hill Drive. The closure began February 13, 2026, and the City lists an estimated duration of 11 months. Counting forward, that puts the estimated end in mid-January 2027. That date comes from the original estimate. Neither the City nor the developer has announced a revised schedule or a firm reopening day.

The developer's project site, under a "Summer 2026" heading, says the flood control channel under the road has been graded. The next step is widening it from about 40 feet to its full 120 feet and removing the existing Bouquet Canyon bridge. The Lennar project also includes a straighter stretch of Bouquet Canyon Road between Plum Canyon and Vasquez Canyon roads, with raised medians, sidewalks and trails, plus up to 375 for-sale homes.

In July, 7-Eleven owner John Meshriky said he'd been told the work was on track.

Getting to the corner

The two affected centers are Bouquet Plaza at 28200 Bouquet Canyon Road and Plum Commerce Center at 28072 Bouquet Canyon Road. Both sit at the southern end of the closed stretch. Every approach that still works comes in from the Plum Canyon side.

1. From the south on Bouquet Canyon Road: the closure starts at Plum Canyon Road, so the stretch south of that intersection is outside it.
2. From Plum Canyon Road: this is the open side of the intersection. Vincenzo's own site lists its address as 20701 Plum Canyon Road.
3. From the north on Bouquet Canyon Road: you can't drive through. Southbound traffic is diverted at David Way onto Copper Hill Drive, and the City's detour runs around the closure on Copper Hill and Haskell Canyon.
4. Benz Road: this isn't a public shortcut. An access gate went active February 17. Residents in the designated impacted area got vehicle headlamp tags that open it, and anyone else requesting a tag has to show a vehicle registered to an eligible parcel address.

The Benz Road gate has caused more trouble for these businesses than many people expected. Vincenzo's told customers in a letter that the owners weren't overly concerned about the closure at first. They hadn't known Benz Road would also close, which left customers coming from the north with no way in unless they drove all the way around to Haskell. The letter said this hit customers from Agua Dulce, Acton and beyond. In September, owners were still calling the Benz gate a barrier.

Who is on the corner

This list comes from businesses named in local coverage this year and from the businesses' own websites. It isn't confirmation that each one is open today. Hours and status have been changing all year, so call or check before you go.

• Vincenzo's Pizza, at 20701 Plum Canyon Road.
• Marci's Sports Bar & Grill, whose house band played the City's July pop-up.
• Thai Basil, which lists 28072 Bouquet Canyon Road.
• La Cocina Bar & Grill, whose Bouquet location is at 28076 Bouquet Canyon Road.
• Twisted Kazuyo, at 28112 Bouquet Canyon Road.
• Bouquet Plaza Liquor, owned by Bill Khalil.
• 7-Eleven Bouquet Canyon, owned by John Meshriky.
• Mail and Stamp Center, owned by Mik Prajapati.
• Bella Salon and Vault Vapes, both named in a June KHTS report on affected businesses.
• Renovaré Salon at Bouquet Plaza, owned by Mona Huckabee.
• Rest in Grace Church, which holds services at Bouquet Canyon Plaza.

The losses have been concrete. In July, a business owner showed a back storeroom of merchandise that had expired after four or five months with little traffic coming through the door. Another business owner put losses in the tens of thousands of dollars. Pastor Benjamin Gideon of Rest in Grace Church said people no longer "find us by accident anymore."

What the City's grant does, and when it arrives

On September 8, the City Council unanimously approved the Bouquet Canyon Business Assistance Grant Program at $640,000. About $590,000 is set aside for grants and $50,000 for a third-party administrator. The City can cover up to 50% of eligible fixed costs over six months, meaning rent, utilities, insurance and payroll, with a cap of $35,000 per business. Grants don't reimburse lost revenue. City staff counted 38 commercial units and about 33 businesses in the two affected corridors.

Here is the schedule set against the closure:

The money reaches businesses roughly nine to ten months into an 11-month closure. For a shop that has been running at a loss since February, a grant covering half of six months of fixed costs helps. It doesn't cover the stretch from February to now.

The eligibility rules matter just as much. Applicants must show a measurable drop in revenue during the closure and must have operated at their location for at least 12 months before it began. Prajapati opened the Mail and Stamp Center the month before the closure, and Meshriky opened his 7-Eleven shortly before closure notices went out. No eligibility decision has been reported for either one. On its face, though, the 12-month rule is a hurdle for the two newest businesses on the corner. At the September meeting, Mayor Laurene Weste said the City should make sure no affected business is shut out of the program.

The part residents control

The City also runs Open Rewards, a free app that gives 5% cash back on eligible purchases at participating businesses in Bouquet Plaza and Plum Commerce Center. You download the app and link a credit or debit card, or you can upload receipts instead. To see which businesses are enrolled, the City points users to the Discovery tab inside the app. Starting September 17, the program expanded to Old Town Newhall, so the same app now covers both districts.

Unlike the grant, Open Rewards works right away and has no 12-month rule. Spending at a business that opened in January counts the same as spending at one that has been there 35 years. For Saugus households, that's the most direct way to keep this corner going: come in from Plum Canyon Road, pick up pizza at Vincenzo's or a roll at Twisted Kazuyo, and drop off a package at the Mail and Stamp Center while you're there.

If you're a Saugus homeowner trying to understand how the Bouquet Canyon realignment and the 375 new homes nearby could affect your own property over time, the team at Prime Real Estate follows this project closely and can walk you through it with no pressure. Start with your instant home valuation, and we'll explain what's changing on your side of Plum Canyon.