A portion of the Pacific Coast Highway near Zuma Beach will be closed for 24 hours beginning Monday night in preparation for the temporary relocation of Fire Station No. 71 to the Zuma Beach parking lot, according to the City of Malibu.
One northbound and one southbound lane will be closed from Monday, July 8, at 10 p.m. through Tuesday, July 9, at 10 p.m. to allow workers to remove the highway’s raised concrete center median. The city is encouraging pedestrians and motorists to use alternate routes when possible and to plan for extra time when traveling through the area.
The removal of the median is part of the “minor site and street access improvements” being made to allow a fire engine and other emergency vehicles to access the Zuma Beach parking lot while the station is housed there.
The relocation is part of an $8.3 million overhaul of the current station in Point Dume, just north of the PCH-Zumirez Drive intersection, approved by the Malibu Planning Commission last month.
The plan includes remodeling of the current station, which the department has said is in disrepair and is too small to fit current firefighting needs, more than doubling the size of the facility, from 2,260 to 5,800 square feet.
Although the project will increase the size of living quarters from 1,700 square feet to 3,500 square feet and add six individual dorms and separate male and female showers, it will not increase staff size. The private dorms and showers are required for the station to employ both male and female firefighters, according to the county’s application.
Other features in the plan include expanding an apparatus bay to house an extra fire engine and building an ADA-compatible access ramp.
The project is expected to take about a year to complete, during which time the station and a five-person crew will be temporarily housed in two 12 by 56 foot modular buildings at the helipad near the beach’s parking lot.
