All of the rhetoric flying around lately regarding the response time of Fire Dept. units to Malibu Road during our most recent fire is most interesting, considering the fact that our “clueless” leaders just recently adopted a “traffic-calming” and beautification re-do of Cross Creek Road in direct conflict with the Fire Department’s urgent recommendation made to the Council after the 1993 fire. I was at that City Council meeting and heard the recommendation.
The urgent recommendation? Widen Cross Creek Road and Webb Way to allow emergency vehicles unimpeded egress and ingress to the Emergency Staging and Bivouac Area on the Chili Cook-off Site. Fire trucks were having major problems accessing PCH on both roads because the lanes were packed with other vehicles and there was no space to pass them by. There was no “center” lane on Webb Way, and fire trucks were coming face-to-face with each other in the center lane of Cross Creek, severely hampering fire truck response time to both eastern and western Malibu.
So, what have our “clueless” leaders just approved? A narrowed, serpentine, beautified, but traffic-calmed Cross Creek Road, without the necessary center turn lane. Why did they do this? Who knows! Were they aware of the safety concerns referenced above? Yes. They were told at the beginning of the planning process for Cross Creek, and so was the Safety Commission. Two of us former Planning Commissioners, plus a Safety Commissioner, raised these important safety issues. The planner of the project was also told, after the Safety Commission meeting, about the necessity of widening the road, not narrowing it, to allow for passage of emergency vehicles, as well as keeping the road straight, not serpentine, with raised plant containers mid-street. He said he was unaware of any safety concerns but would take it into consideration. Did he? You tell me. Oh, but our council members are most concerned about rapid response times of emergency vehicles. Really? I don’t think so.
Jo Ruggles
Former Planning Commissioner