About 50 community members came to Point Dume Marine Science School last Thursday, Nov. 5, to discuss traffic safety measures that could be implemented in the Point Dume neighborhood, though after nearly two hours of discussion, the consensus was that there was no consensus.
Assistant Fire Chief Anthony Williams, who was just made acting assistant chief after years as Battalion Chief, indicated that, according to department policy, speed bumps could slow down the time it takes for first responders to arrive at a fire or medical emergency. It was unclear whether LA County Fire Department had a distinct policy for speed humps, a so-called “kinder, gentler” version of a speed bump.
“The department’s policy is that speed bumps delay response,” Williams said. “Studies indicate that it delays response measurably.”
According to Williams, the majority of calls in the Point Dume neighborhood are for medical emergencies, which can be more time sensitive compared to other calls, such as house fires.
“I do know that a majority of our responses here in [the] Zuma and Point Dume area are of a medical nature,” Williams said.
“I do know that our vehicles are extremely heavy. We’re carrying 500 gallons of water, and all our equipment,” Williams added. “If we do go over speed humps, and we do slow down to below 25, we are not going to be able to go the speed limit.”
City Council Member Skylar Peak took Williams to task on that answer, asking whether fire engines and other response vehicles even get up to speed limit on the narrow Point Dume streets.
“It would be very unsafe to have a fire truck on any of these streets at any speed over 25 or 30 miles per hour, if you are called,” Peak said. “I don’t think something like a speed hump … is going to have any significant effect.”
An audience member then asked whether paramedic vehicles, which generally are dispatched before fire engines on medical calls, would have the same difficulties going over speed humps.
“I have a low profile vehicle — a Prius — and I’ve gone over these 12-foot wide, two-and-a-half-inch high speed humps and, I don’t know, maybe you haven’t tested those yet, but a paramedic can go over one of those speed humps without a problem, at the speed limit, if not over,” he said.
“I’m not driving a Prius,” Williams replied. “We’re driving a … larger paramedic truck. When they bounce up and down and shaking stuff, they’re breaking stuff.”
After roughly two dozen residents spoke during the Thursday meeting, there was no clear indication of whether or not the community as a whole supports the idea of putting in speed humps, a “kinder, gentler” version of a speed bump that gradually comes to a 2.5-inch rise.
Other issues arose in the conversation, including that of encroachments that block pedestrian walking paths, forcing pedestrians to walk in the streets.
Kirby Kottler, a longtime Point Dume resident, said he recalled a time when there were clear paths to walk along the sides of the road in Point Dume.
“These guys have no place to walk,” Kottler said. “It seems like there needs to be more clearance on either side of the road.”
City Manager Jim Thorsen later asked those gathered whether or not they would be willing to clean up encroachments on their property to clear the way for pedestrians to have a safer walkway. Approximately 85 percent of those gathered raised their hands.
This was as close to an agreement as was made Thursday night.
“Let me take a minute to wrap up what I heard tonight, which is: speed humps, yes. Speed humps, no. Signage, yes. Signage, no,” Thorsen said wryly at the end of the meeting. “There’s not going to be one solution that’s going to wrap up everybody’s problems. It’s going to be a lot of things.”
City staff, including traffic consultant Sri Chakravarthy, who gave a presentation at the meeting, are now working on compiling all the suggestions proposed by community members into a traffic plan. Thorsen also left open the possibility that the city may do more studies, including testing speeds of emergency vehicles over the speed humps currently in place on Malibu Road, or conducting traffic counts in off-hours in Point Dume.