Bike Lanes, 27 New Streetlights in Western Malibu Get OK’d, Pepperdine Throws Fit Over Sidewalk

Plans to add painted bike lanes and 27 streetlights to PCH on western Malibu won a permit from the city Planning Commission last night. 

It was a 4 to 1 vote.

Surprisingly .,.. plans to add about 10 miles of bike lanes … with gaps for parking … were not the main issue of controversy.

Rather … it was the Caltrans proposal for a sidewalk in front of the big lawn on Pepperdine University. 

The private college was firm and its vice president said over and over. … they do not want that sidewalk.

She objected to it as being not needed … and she said it was disconnected … because there is no sidewalk extending further up or down the coast.

University vice president Nicole Taylor.

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“The information that has been presented to us does not include an understanding as to why it is needed or an explanation of how it will create safety.

“All of the information that we have provided to suggest that there might be consequences negatively impacting safety on PCH have not been addressed.”

Pepperdine’s biggest objection appeared to be they really do not want a sidewalk in front of their great lawn … even though there are sidewalks on the other three sides.

They said the emergency vehicles would not be able to drive up to the helicopter landing station … even though Caltrans says they will build a curb that trucks can drive over. 

And they said the sidewalk would be discontinuous … because there is no PCH sidewalk beyond the campus … up or down the highway. 

Assistant city public works director Travis Hart said Pepperdine’s vice president was mistaken.  Hart said the sidewalk will be a connection from PCH to Webb Way via Civic Center Way.

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“A couple of things that I keep hearing brought up by Pepperdine. 

“The sidewalks are not discontinuous. I keep hearing that brought up.

“This will be a continuous sidewalk from John Tyler to Malibu Canyon that allows people to get from John Tyler, which can also access up to Civic Center (Way). 

“Additionally, this is in Caltrans right away.

“They have the right to procede.  They gave the right to put the sidewalk in if it’s within their right of way.

“They don’t need justification for it.”

The room last night was packed with supporters of the safety plan … many of them Malibu residents … many of them Pepperdine students. 

Bridget Thompson. 

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“Two years ago, my four best friends, Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir, 21, and Deslyn Williams, were killed on Pacific Coast Highway.

“Every time I drive past the spot where they died, it takes my breath away.

“Pacific Coast Highway isn’t just another line on a map. It’s a scar. 

“This isn’t just a planning item or another project. It’s a $55 million chance to save lives.

“If we delay, or say no, that money disappears, and the road will still be rebuilt, but without the lighting, the sidewalks, the crossings, the things that (would) actually make it safer.”

But some Malibu residents said the sidewalks, the streetlights and bike lanes are an imposition into the Malibu way of life. 

Tiffany Murray was particularly upset by the addition of five streetlights near Zumirez Drive. 

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“Your proposal needs to reflect Malibu’s reality and values. 

“Malibu is not a suburban corridor. 

“We are a rustic community that has chosen to live close to nature, to the ocean mountains and to the dark skies. 

“We traded convenience for a meaningful connection to this land into the wildlife that shares it with us.

“Lighting up our coastline like an amusement park does not make it safer … it erases what makes this place sacred.”

And in that corner was public safety commissioner John Mazza … arguing long and hard against sidewalks at Pepperdine and along Corral Beach … and against 27 additional streetlights over intersections and crosswalks.

Planning Commissioner John Mazza said … don’t believe the traffic safety engineers .. when they say the lights will make the highway safer.

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“I have lived here 54 years.

“I figured out today … I’ve driven this highway at least 20,000 times.

“So we’re more familiar with what happens at night where parking is etc. why why shouldn’t be hearing shouldn’t be there and then possibly … you know … 

“We have experts from Caltrans but they don’t drive the highway 20,000 times they aren’t locals they understand lighting in the rural areas.”

But substitutuing a driver in his 70s … who has never been trained as a traffic safety engineer … up against decades of highway safety research and studies?   As interpreted by the State of California engineers?

No sale … says Commissioner Elizabeth Riddick.

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“I personally do not feel comfortable navigating a safety study when I am not a safety expert [APPLAUSE] and I cannot with good conscience tell Caltrans, that does this as a profession, that they’re wrong and that I know better. 

“If you want to do that, I hear you, but you know, I can’t in good conscience do that.”

It was a chaotic meeting … with planning commissioner John Mazza frequently being told to stop interupting by the city’s attorney and the chairman of the commission.

Mazza complained repeatedly that he was not being allowed to ask questions. 

The vote was 4 to 1 … with Mazza on the losing side.   

Planning Commissioner Marni Kamins says she was planning to join in the vote against the Caltrans permits … but she was swayed at the last minute … by last night’s testimony in favor of safety changes.

The pemirt could be appealed to the city council … but they have already voiced support for the Caltrans effort.

So what exactly was approved by the planning commission last night?

Caltrans has reduced the number of new streetlights in western Malibu from more than 70 to 27 … none of them at Zuma Beach or to the west of Busch Drive, to be exact.

In fact .. there will only be three streetlights on the ocean front. … all of them at Malibu Seafood. 

The light fixtures will not spill light onto the beaches … they will be dark sky compliant to the maximum extent feasible.

Five miles of new bike paths … painted onto the eastbound highway .. and 5 miles westbound. 

A few dozen feet of sidewalk at the Point Dume signal.

Most importantly … the 55 million dollar project will repave PCH from Malibu Creek west to the LA- Ventura county line. 

Construction will be mostly at night … and it is scheduled to take place over 2 years.

Eastern Malibu … where the pavement is in much worse shape … will get similar reconstruction … assuming the city approves it.

But that is still in the design phase … as much of the pavement is still being sliced up for reconstruction after the Palisades Fire.