Only 2-1/2 Miles Of PCH Will Get Immediate Safety Study, As Caltrans Boss Orders Immediate Safety Changes At Brand New Detour

Major safety changes showed up on PCH less than 24 hours after a high Caltrans ranking official took a look at some brand new detour problems.

But the comprehensive traffic safety audit that Caltrans promised Malibu residents is only covering 2 and a half miles this year … less than 8 percent of the coast highway between the 10 Freeway and Neptune’s Net. 

Caltrans does have plans to repave the entire PCH within a few years … 

That’s the upshot of a report to the PCH Task Force… yesterday.

 

Caltrans Will Spend $4.3 On PCH This Spring, But Not Much Of That On Slowing Traffic

Caltrans District 7 safety director Lee Haber says 4.3 million dollars will be spent in the next four months … from the tunnel to County Line beach.

HABER 1 

“It will be incorporating features like we were talking about like enhanced striping at curves through stretches of the route.

“Optical speed bars at 10 separate locations.

“We’re also including installation of 13 speed feedback signs at 10 locations. 

“We will be placing speed limit markings on the pavement … both lanes in the northbound, both lanes in the southbound direction ….

“Those will be in approximately 1 mile increments, but we will be adjusting that out in the field, as we proceed.

“Work will also include sign replacement and new signs.” 

That’s 4.3 million dollars of temporary fixes. 

But in terms of major changes … not all of Malibu’s 21 miles are going to get those immediately.  Areas west of the Civic Center may have to wait two years for a comprehensive safety audit.

In the past month … PCH has done a comprehensive safety audit on just 2.5 miles of the highway in Malibu.

Caltrans regional safety chief Lee Haber spoke at Wednesday’s PCH Task Force meeting:

HABER 2 

“The road safety audit that we did conduct in the field, we did a limited stretch of Pacific Coast Highway, State Route 1 from Las Flores to the Malibu pier.

“We broke that into two segments … with Carbon Canyon Road as our dividing point between the northern segment and the southern segment.

“Our initial focus has been on the southern segment between Las Flores and Carbon Canyon  has been on Carbon Canyon it was we’re also continuing additional follow up items to the north to Malibu Pier.”

That’s the limit of their traffic safety audit so far … from Duke’s to the Malibu Pier … a distance of only 2.5 miles. 

Caltrans has 21 miles of PCH in Malibu … 33 miles from the Santa Monica tunnel to Neptunes Net.   Since the fatal crash .. the safety audit is complete for just 8 percent of the highway. 

Areas like Paradise Cove and Zuma Beach are going to have to wait …. In some cases for more than two years. And that;’s just for the audit of current conditions.

And that’s a far cry from what Malibu city council members have been demanding.

Haber said the stretch that has been surveyed includes the spot where for Pepperdine University students were killed two months ago.

Other areas with frequent fatalities… such as Winding Way West… Paradise Cove… Busch Drive… they may not get surveyed for three years… according to the Caltrans estimates released yesterday..

Malibu’s two state legislators are turning up the heat … at the second PCH Safety Task Force meeting since the Pepperdine catastrophe … two months ago … 

State Senator Ben Allen and Assembly Member Jacqui Irwin have demanded immediate promises from Caltrans … in writing … 

Jacqui Irwin:

IRWIN LETTER 

“My office, along with Senator Allen’s office, set a letter to Caltrans, asking for a specific timelines on projects they have identified for short term improvements, as well as a list of the five most impactful safety improvement projects that could be made to prevent excessive speeding and preserve the lives of pedestrians and motorists.

“The letter closed with the statement ‘if an underpass fire that burned pallets and abandon cars could bring together the collective forces of Caltrans to turn a five week project into a reopening in a matter of days, the deaths of four young women should be able to move the Santa Monica mountains. 

I am hoping that today we hear of some short and longer term plans.”

The state senator … Ben Allen .. also wanted to hear  immediate plans. 

ALLEN STEPS

“Caltrans had completed a road safety audit, which was near the site of crash. 

“They did that last week with Malibu city staff and I’m certainly looking forward to hearing the results of that audit today …

“Particularly … which safety and prevention which traffic calming measures could be implemented within the coming weeks.”

But no audit results were released yesterday.

 

Short Term Projects Proposed By Caltrans Before Any Redesign Of PCH

Caltrans officials said the immediate plans are for restriping the roads … adding reflective marker signs in the dark places … and adding 13 speed feedback signs.

And paint … lots of paint … including speed limit reminders every mile or so … and crosswise stripes that optically trick drivers into slowing down. 

But anyone looking for speed limit reductions or road redesign … may be disappointed.

The state official said a major repaving and reconstruction of PCH will get underway in about one year for the par top PCH west to county line … with completing in 2025.

The rebuild of the eastern part of PCH … from the pier in Malibu down to the pier in Santa Monica … is three years away from construction. 

The state says they have reviewed the PCH safety study from 2015 … the one that has 130 items on it,.

Haber says a very large number have been completed. 

Local official disagree … and they say the items that have been accomplished ar ether easy ones … the low hanging fruit. 

Yesterday … the Malibu state senator … Ben Allen … yesterday said immediate changes to PCH are being ordered by Caltrans Direcor Tony Tavares  … on a scale similar to the emergency repairs to the fire damaged freeway in Los Angeles.

ALLEN DIR ORDERS

“The Director directed Tavares plans to issue what are called directors orders, which are what you saw with the situation of the fire on the 10 freeway, where he is able to unilaterally expedite the immediate, and then also medium term improvements that Caltrans had identified to slow the speed of traffic and better protect pedestrians.”

But the state legislators… Allen and Irwin … yesterday said they wanted to hear about specific steps from Caltrans ….like lowering speed limits … installing traffic calming devices … or other serious actions.

That is not what they got… Caltrans officials did not reveal or discuss any specific steps that they have planned for the road.

Malibu has some chances up ahead to try to convince high ranking Caltrans brass to move quicker.

The governor’s Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin will be in Malibu … to firsthand look at substandard safety measures on Pacific Coast Highway … this month.

And the state director of Caltrans … Tony Tavares … he will visit also visit Malibu soon to look at PCH. 

But Malibu residents were urged yesterday to stay involved … and put heat on the state government.

Assembly Member Irwin pointed out … the state legislature is NOT friendly to expanded use of speed camera to enforce speed limits.

IRWIN BILL 

“Right now I’m down in San Diego and I didn’t have a chance to talk to the new chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee … who is skeptical of speed cameras. 

“And so, as has been mentioned, we will really need to have a engagement of all the residents to make sure that we get this bill through the process … both the Senate and the Assembly.”

The Legislature will convene in three weeks … 

And Irwin says Malibu residents need to mobilize support for a change in state law to add Malibu to the list of six California cities that are allowed to use radar speed cameras. 

CORRECTION: This article was corrected at 9:45 Saturday morning, to fix a auto-transcription error in Assemblymember Irwin’s quote.

 

State Bans Left Turn Access To Corral Canyon Road, Installs Crosswalk With Signal At Beaurivage

The bridge construction on PCH at Corral Canyon Road has squished all of the traffic into two lanes in each direction.

No room for a left turn lane …

That means cars heading from the Paradise Cove area trying to turn left onto Corral Canyon Road was stopping to turn left … in the straight ahead traffic.

That was a traffic safety fiasco.

Members of the Malibu Public Safety Commission took the Caltrans safety boss Lee Haber out to look at the danger.

One of them said Haber “was left just shaking his head at that one … he got on the phone and said ‘you have to get down here now to fix this.’ ”

It was fixed overnight.

No left turns are allowed … and because it’s a beach … there is no place to make a right turn or go around.

The nearest U-turn lane is up at Puerco Canyon … a more than one mile up and back detour plus a risky U-turn.   Or … drivers heading from paradise Cove up Corral Canyon Road can make a U-turn next to the new crosswalk.

What new crosswalk?

The brand new crosswalk that was painted in last week … just in front of the old Beau rivage restaurant… The one with a brand new traffic light hanging over it.

That was fast.

The crosswalk and traffic light have been installed by Caltrans because people need to cross PCH to get to the sidewalk alongside the highway… crossing Solstice Creek at the bridge project.

Most traffic lights take years of debate …. And the city of Malibu recently rejected a similar pedestrian crossing light just down the highway at Malibu Seafood.

 

CHP Writes 134 Speeding Tickets In Crackdown After PCH Fatalities

CHP officers and sheriff’s deputies are writing speeding tickets by the dozens on PCH in the aftermath of the killing of the four Pepperdine students two months ago.

Yesterday … the CHP announced it had issued 136 tickets not eh beach and on canyon roads in the past month,

That’s up from just a handful in the months before.

The sheriff’;s office says they wrote 134 tickets for speeding. 

The latest idiot … clocked at 94 miles an hour. 

 

Months Of Delays Reported On Second Major PCH Construction Project

And speaking of Caltrans … massive delays continue to plague its two major construction projects in the local area. 

The Trancas Creek bridge is now four years into what was supposed to be a two year project.

Work to demolish the old part of the bridge has apparently ground to a halt.

Nothing has happened in four weeks.

A new detour was just set up to get around the place where no work is happening …maybe until the rainy season is over like last time. 

But more detour signs have been ordered for Trancas.

And near Point Mugu … the venture County ADStar reports the giant seawall construction that’s bene going on for 2 years is way behind schedule as well.

Traffic is squeezing by in two very narrow lanes as that 51 million dollar project continues.

It was supposed to be done already.

It’s not.

Maybe by next June… says Caltrans.

 

County Beaches And Harbors Stirs Into Action On Zuma Underpass, One Year After It Floods 

And at the PCH safety task force meeting yesterday .. the sad lack of coordination between the city … county beaches and state Caltrans was on full display.

This was brought to light in the remarks by a Beaches and Harbors official about the Zuma Creek underpass … where sand and mud and water is covering an underpass that is vital for traffic crossing PCH at the Zuma Beach entrance.

Barry Kurtz is the county Beaches and harbors traffic engineer … in charge of the Zuma Beach parking lot.

And he’s in charge of the underpass that the city wants reopened … to alleviate traffic dangers up above on PCH.

Here’s Kurtz at yesterday’s task force meeting.

BEACHES KURTZ

“There is a few issues that we would like to discuss today.

One is the planned long term sol;tiomns to managing northbound PCH traffic entering our Zuma Beach parking lot when the under crossing is closed due to sentiment buildup..

“So I guess we need to work with Caltrans to work on this long term issue.”

Remember … this guy is the traffic engineer in charge at Beaches And Harbors.

He apparently has had no contact with the city or Caltrans regarding clearing out that underpass. 

The Malibu city manager announced two weeks ago that Caltrans was ready to bulldoze the accumulated debris out of the underpass … to reopen the roadway.

Sounds like Beaches and Harbors is not only -NOT- on board with that .. but their traffic engineer is apparently not aware that the crossing detour has been an issue for a year now.

But rest assured.

The county guy has a plan.

BEACHES KURTZ 2 

“The county will be installing a detour sign for northbound PCH to advise motorist when the only crossing is closed and that something we will be installing.”

With any luck the county’s detour sign will go up at least several days before Caltrans bulldozes it open. 

 

Sun And Warm Air Next 3 Days, Then 8 Days Of Rain

Early pre-Christmas forecast from the NWS:

=. Gusty Santa Anas to 35 mph, tonight thru Sat.

=. Highs up to 80 Fri and Sat. 

=. Rain likely starting Sunday night, lasting off and on the next 8 days. 

=. 50% chance we could see 1-3 inches rainfall by Monday Dec 25. 

=. 20% chance more than three inches.

=. 30% chance less than 1 inch or no rain.