One lane on a busy stretch of Pacific Coast Highway will close Thursday and Friday after an apparent act of vandalism. Concrete was poured into storm drains on the highway between the California Incline and the Santa Monica Pier recently by “an unknown entity,” Caltrans officials confirmed in a press release. One southbound lane in that stretch will be closed on Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. while Caltrans workers clear the drains. Traffic delays could occur.
“We don’t know when the concrete was poured in there,” Caltrans representative Patrick Chandler said Wednesday. “It’s obviously going to disrupt the operation of the drains. We’ll probably know in a couple days how severe the blockage is.”
Chandler said that despite obvious suspicions of vandalism, Caltrans could not confirm if the poured concrete was intentional or not, and it had no way of finding out.
“It could’ve been someone being irresponsible, or an accident,” Chandler said.
Caltrans workers will clear the drains of mud, sand and gravel in an effort to prevent flooding. A Caltrans storm water robot camera crew will inspect the drains after they are cleared to assess the extent of the damage, the press release stated. A contractor will then be hired to clear the concrete.