Letter: Reviewing Roads

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Letter to the Editor

Last week, with very little fanfare, Malibu’s Planning Department released the comment letters Malibu residents submitted challenging conclusions reached in the Whole Foods Environmental Impact Report. You can find these comment letters at the City website. 

A few points worth highlighting:

Ten residents sent letters supporting the project. Two hundred twenty two residents objected the project and requested that the City produce a new traffic study that accurately depicts the traffic on Malibu roads. If you remember the Whole Foods traffic report claims that traffic on Malibu roads has decreased by 25% over the last few years. 

Comment letters reminded us that once all the projects in the Civic Center are built, they would add an additional 10,967 weekday car trips onto Cross Creek Road, Civic Center Way and Webb Way. Residents working in the Civic Center, parents with children in Civic Center-area schools and Serra Canyon residents repeated the need for accurate traffic counts along with assurances that speedy evacuation routes would be available in the case of an emergency.

Will our elected officials give weight to any of these concerns? Don’t count on it. 

At the April 13 City Council meeting, city staff will ask for more money to accelerate the completion of the Whole Foods EIR to make sure it is finalized in the next few months. But, despite requests from 222 Malibu residents, there are no plans to deliver an updated, accurate traffic study.

Looks like the only way we are going to get an accurate representation of the traffic impact of this development is by showing up at the April 13 City Council meeting and making our voices heard. Hope to see you there.

Steve Uhring