As a 17-year resident of the Malibu Bowl increasingly frustrated by the heavy traffic on PCH, I looked forward to having a traffic light at the intersection of Corral Canyon Road and PCH. I was dismayed, therefore, when I read last week that a fellow resident opposed the plan by Caltrans to install a traffic light there. In the summer months especially, when the beaches are full, I have found the wait to make a left turn onto PCH going south from Corral Canyon Road interminable because of the steady stream of beach traffic on PCH. On many such occasions I have felt compelled to take a right turn onto PCH, then drive to Latigo Shore Drive where, from the center lane, I quickly made a U-turn when the southbound lane permitted.
Having to resort to an unwanted right turn, an unwanted drive 100 yards north and a quick U-turn just to get on the southbound lane of PCH is inconvenient and potentially dangerous. Also, by slowing PCH traffic, the new light should reduce the risk of a fatality at that intersection. One thing that puzzled me about last week’s story was that it was not mentioned that the owners of the BeauRivage restaurant at that intersection had agreed to pay $50,000 towards the cost of the new light as part of an agreement with the city to permit them to build 27 visitor-serving residential units at that intersection. What happened to that agreement?
William McCarthy