Malibu’s plan to improve pedestrian safety by banning parking on the inland side of PCH … criticized by the state.
The Manhattan Beach Freeway gets put on a diet … commuters are furious … is there a lesson for P C H??
And … weedwhackers sparking fires is a major concern this spring in the Santa Monica Mountains.
This is Malibu’s only local daily news.
It’s the (((( Friday ))) edition of the news … from Radio Malibu …. 97 point 5 K B U.
Good morning Trancas Canyon Road!
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Malibu’s plan to eliminate parking on the inland side of P C H at Zuma Beach ,.. and in the straightaways along P C H west of Trancas … are being criticized by two important state agencies.
The Mountain Resource Conservation Agency … M R C A … and the Coastal Commission staff both say Malibu is not doing enough to provide or maintain beach parking along P C H.
Next Monday .. the city council will decide what to do with its extensive study … written with Caltrans … on how to improve the parking safety issue in Malibu.
The Coastal Commission says Malibu did a good job .. but not enough.
They say the city needs to provide more parking … and eliminate red curbs in eastern Malibu where they are not necessary.
And Coastal says the city failed to examine how residents have put walls … landscaping … mailboxes and garbage cans on state right of way.
Coastal also wants the city to evaluate how illegal developments on Malibu’s city streets might be removed to provide more space for public uses.
Coastal says they expect this evaluation to include city streets near beaches …
They say “Broad Beach Road, Malibu Road, and the Point Dume area streets may be able to make up for some of the parking (places) that might be lost along the PCH.”
Coastal also wants the city to take another look at possible shuttle options, as well as using underpasses/ overpasses, and additional crosswalks to provide more safe crossings for the public from both sides of PCH.
The city council will discuss the parking study Monday night.
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They called it the Manhattan Beach Freeway.
We’re talking about a stretch of coastal highway very similar to P C H … down in Los Angeles … called Vista del Mar.
Four lanes … free beach parking on both sides … and pedestrians keep getting killed there.
The City of L-A has paid out millions and million in lawsuits over unsafe design of that road … including the fact that there was no safe place for pedestrians to walk along it.
Heavy beach use meant pedestrians crossing all over the place.
And the lack of traffic meant it was a shortcut for commuters trying to avoid the 4-0-5.
Sound familiar???
The City of L-A has just set off howls of protest by commuters taking that shortcut.
It has just banned parking on the inland side of that road … next to L-A-X.
And L-A has cut the number of lanes in half … from two in each direction to one … and installed angle parking along the beach side … to actually increase beach access.
The Manhattan beach Freeway is now a quiet … residential style street …. just like what was done years ago in Manhattan Beach.
But the drivers in South Bay cities like Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach are freaking out.
They’ve lost the Manhattan Beach Freeway … it’s now a two lane street … just like the ocean-adjacent avenues in their neighborhoods.
Playa Del Rey residents … who are perhaps most affected …. are in favor of the changes overall.
Why should their neighborhood of L-A be treated more shabbily than other beach cities …. which have been using Playa Del Yet as an interchange on their shortcut to avoid the 405 or PCH past the airport???
Are there lessons for Malibu down in all this ?
No one is proposing eliminating any traffic lanes on PCH …
But when traffic changes are implemented on P C H … in Malibu … such as lowering speed limits … expect howls of protests from the Z commuters who treat our local main street … as their alternate freeway.
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Six of the 11 brush fires that were sparked in the Santa Monica Mountains and Los Angeles region over the past three weeks were accidentally started by gas-powered weed trimmers.
That’s according to fugures in a report in the Acorn newspaper … over the hill.
The largest was the 55-acre Mandeville Canyon blaze … east of Pacific palisades … on the Sunday before Memorial Day.
It was by an overheated muffler on a weed whacker.
Trimmers were also blamed for the May 23 brush fire that burned 10 acres of hillside above Westlake Village.
Los Angeles County firefighters are asking residents and professional gardeners to take some precautions before they use weed trimmers to clear dry brush in preparation for summer.
Continue with brush clearance, but be cognizant of sparks and hot engines. It doesn’t take much to get a fire started,” a county fire Battalion Chief told The Acorn.
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You are listening to the latest news from Radio Malibu … 97.5 K B U. ((( time ))))
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It’s back to the drawing board at Trancas Canyon Park ,,.. where plans to replace the surface at the dog park are on hold.
The city had planned to change the type of soil at the dog park …. the existing dirt called D-G is hard on dog’s paws.
A less abrasive type of D G was recommended … and 80 thousand dollars budgeted.
But the construction bids came in high … way high.
The city manager is recommending that the bids be rejected … and that the city council tell the staff to redesign the project to fit the amount of money available.
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In news from down the coast … controversy is roiling in Santa Monica over the future of the Bergamont Station.
The former industrial warehouses are now home to a thriving arts district.
Bergamont currently houses 27 galleries, designers, a nonprofit theater company and a café.
But rising rents in Santa Monica have forced some art galleries out … both in the city in general and at Bergamont Station in particular.
The city has selected a redevelopment partner for the Bergamot Station Arts Center … a company that wants to tear down one of the five warehouses to build a multistory, hundred room hotel.
The plan would preserve four of the five existing buildings … and adds six new structures — would help subsidize the existing cultural hub.
The plan goes before the Santa Monica city council next Tuesday . according to the Santa Monica Outlook newspaper.
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Finally this morning … KBU’s news reports have been supplemented with traffic reports from KBU Mobile Unit 2.
That person is actually my wife … Diane Laetz … who has been driving down PCH to her job at Cukver City High School.
After 31 years … she’s retiring today.
No more mobile unit 2 early every morning.
Congratulations Mrs Laetz and thank you.
We’re taking applications for a new mobile unit.
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Traffic …
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Weather for the Malibu ….
It will be (((( 66 )))) degrees today on the beach … (((( 78 )))) inland.
Winds will be strong.
Downcoast winds will be ((( 25 )))) miles per hour this afternoon.
Sunset tonight is at (((( 8:02 )))).
After that … expect it to be ((( late night and early morning clouds and mountain fog )))) tonight … a low of (((( 56 )))) on the beach … down to (((( 55 )))) in the canyons.
Tomorrow should be (((( much the same )))).
Right now … at Trancas it’s (((( 64 )))) degrees.
In upper Malibu Canyon … (((( 65 )))) .
And at Civic Center Los Angeles … (((( 68 )))).
In the ocean … it’s (((( 61 )))) degrees in the water at Zuma Beach.
The lifeguards say the waves today are (((( 2-3 )))) feet high ….
(((( SSW swell continues to fade. Possible small new NW swell-mix. ))))
Those are (((( fair )))) surfing conditions …. according to the lifeguards.
((((( A moderate high tide is at 2 minutes to 11.
Low tide just before 4.
The highest tide … 5 and a half feet … is at 9:53 tonight. ))))
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Our KBU Newswire is posted at midmorning at the Malibu Times dot com.
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