Local residents and members of a neighborhood safety coalition were planning to attend Wednesday’s city Public Safety Commission meeting to address issues of gridlocked and unsafe traffic during drop-off and pick-up hours at Malibu High School and Juan Cabrillo Elementary School.
The traffic on Morning View Drive, Ebbtide Way, Pacific Coast Highway and portions of Merritt and Bush Drives is caused in part by illegally parked cars and is creating an unsafe environment for students, parents, educators, residents, law enforcement, Fire Department, emergency vehicles and others who require access to parts of the area, local residents and members of the Malibu Park Safety Coalition say.
Also fueling the traffic problem, said Marshall Thompson, head of the coalition, is the fluctuating level of legal enforcement by Malibu High School police, who are unable to access areas requiring enforcement due to the traffic, and who change duty shifts at 2 p.m., making it difficult to have officers available during critical pick up hours.
Suggestions from the coalition for achieving a safe and orderly traffic flow throughout the streets that surround the schools include the enforcement of traffic and parking laws, the elimination of all parking on the school side of Morning View Drive, the establishment of a “no parking/no stopping” area on the portion of Merritt Drive that intersects with Morning View, and the implementation of routine parking enforcement.
The Public Safety Commission’s agenda also included the question of how funds from Measure BB can be contributed toward improving the traffic.
Funds from the measure are being used for the redesign of Malibu High School, and involve 43,000 square feet of new construction, and are expected to be done in phases, with completion targeted by spring of 2013.
The removal of mobile classrooms that will be replaced by a 110-space parking area with emergency access to track and field facilities and a reconfigured 57-space drop-off and pick-up area coordinated with neighboring Juan Cabrillo Elementary School, in addition to other items, could possibly provide for some relief of the traffic problem.
However, overall construction involving the redesign of the high school might add to traffic headache until it is completed.
The project also includes the construction of a 10,000-square-foot library and an 8,000-square-foot administrative building. Both structures would be two stories and replace buildings slated for demolition.
A rooftop garden is also proposed. There are also plans for the demolition of a middle school building to make room for 24 new classrooms totaling 24,500 square feet. This will include 19 standard classrooms, two computer labs and three science rooms.
In addition to the parking spaces and pick-up and drop-off spaces, the mobile classes will also be replaced by a commons area, a resurfaced athletic field with a synthetic surface along with a concession stand, lighting system, concrete bleachers and two new tennis courts. Upgrades are proposed for the ventilation in the gym locker rooms, the campus septic system, fire and life safety systems, and technology infrastructure.
According to the description materials, this is a $33 million project. However, the Board of Education has approved only $27.5 million of the $268 million Measure BB bond approved by voters in 2006 for this undertaking.