Community members and city leaders call for using the California Highway Patrol, regardless of cost, and creating a traffic safety taskforce.
By Olivia Damavandi/ Assistant Editor
Increasing the safety on Pacific Coast Highway was a main focus of the Malibu City Council meeting Monday night, as residents continued to mourn the death of a local teen who was struck and killed by a car on the highway two weekends ago.
A Santa Monica resident was also killed in car accident on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu that same weekend. Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu’s main thoroughfare, is more dangerous than ever. Headlines over the years list the accidents, injuries and deaths as the result of speeders, those driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or by drivers who have fallen asleep at the wheel.
Meeting attendees, who included concerned parents, students and city council candidates, urged city officials to take action to make the highway safer, and also brainstormed ways to do so.
One suggestion was the reimplementation of the California Highway Patrol.
Malibu is one of two cities in the state that does not receive traffic enforcement from the CHP for its state roads. Santa Clara is the other city. The California Vehicle Code specifies that CHP service in Malibu will be provided, if requested by the city, and if a contract is entered into between the state and the city. Also, if a contract is made for services, Malibu must pay for the service.
The loss of the CHP dates back to 1991 when Malibu became a city. In doing so, the city assumed responsibility for the roads and the highway in Malibu, as well as law enforcement, and entered into an exclusive contract with the Sheriff’s Department. Some city officials in past interviews have said the decision was made because it would be more cost effective to have just the Sheriff’s Department patrol the highway, since the CHP provides only traffic enforcement.
The city in past years has said it doesn’t have the money to also contract the CHP.
“I would like to see the next council do everything they can to get the legislation changed and get [the California Highway Patrol] back here,” Mayor Sharon Barovsky said at the meeting, which marked the end of her term on the city council. “I think it’s possible.”
Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich suggested the formation of a taskforce comprised of different community members to begin the push for a safer highway.
“We will work to ensure these deaths are not in vain,” Conley Ulich said at the meeting.
Barovsky, however, recommended that residents take the reigns in developing the taskforce, rather than the city.
“I’ve learned that when we create a taskforce, they’re generally created by the council appointing people,” Barovsky said. “I think in this case that would cut out an enormous number of people that would want to be involved in this. If you really want to be a force, the bigger the taskforce, the better.
“I would recommend you turn this to the community and let them do their own so it can breathe without the suffocation of bureaucracy and government,” she added.
City council candidate Matthew Katz said the city should cease spending any money “until we create safety on Pacific Coast Highway.”
He suggested the construction of highway overpasses and underpasses, but acknowledged their expensiveness.
Katz also recommended the construction of a barrier to shield bicyclists along the highway, while recognizing that such a plan is under the jurisdiction of Caltrans, not the city.
City Manager Jim Thorsen in a past interview said though Caltrans has complete jurisdiction over state highways, the city has made efforts to improve safety on PCH by installing speed advisory signs three years ago, implementing the traffic signal at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Corral Canyon earlier this year, and providing median dividers near Zuma Beach and Geoffrey’s restaurant.
Thorsen said plans are also in the works for a bike path along the highway to be constructed at the west end of Malibu.
“Dealing with Caltrans is glacial,” Barovsky said. “Be mindful it took us six years to get a stop light at [the intersection of] Corral Canyon [and Pacific Coast Highway].”
Actions from the April 12 regular Malibu City Council meeting
– Confirmed the assessments and proceedings to form an assessment district among Broad Beach residents to underground telephone poles in the Broad Beach neighborhood.
– Allocated an additional $171,000 from the general fund reserve for an agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey to conduct water quality research.