Neither the city nor the local media received word in advance that a portion of a Pacific Coast Highway lane would be closed for eight hours. A Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s official says somebody from the station should have informed the city.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
The California Department of Transportation and the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station failure to inform Malibu officials and local newspapers in advance about the closure of one lane of Pacific Coast Highway the evening of Sept. 8 left those stuck in traffic steaming for hours.
One thousand feet of an eastbound lane on Pacific Coast Highway near Zumirez Drive was closed that Saturday from 4 p.m. to midnight to accommodate shuttle service to a nearby wedding on the other side of the highway. Caltrans issued the permit to close the lane and Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s deputies were privately hired by the wedding host to oversee the closure and keep an eye out for drunken drivers. This caused traffic to back up almost to Kanan Dume, eyewitnesses said.
Caltrans spokesperson Jeanne Bonfilio said in an interview this week that press releases were sent to the city and the local media prior to the lane closure. City officials say this was not the case. And The Times also received no warning. When asked why this newspaper did not receive a notice, Bonfilio said The Times was not on a list to receive them. However, she had no explanation why The Times has received word on all other local lane closures for years.
Meanwhile, Sgt. Jeff Price, who oversaw the permit enforcement for the Sheriff’s Station, said this week that the city government should have been informed about the lane closure from Deputy Shawn Brownell, who oversees Malibu/Lost Hills’ involvement in lane closures. Brownell did not return calls for comment. But Lt. Debra Glafkides, Malibu/Lost Hills’ Malibu liaison, said Brownell only told one city employee about the lane closure, and that was not done formally.
“It fell through the cracks,” Glafkides said. “I wish I could tell you what happened. Greater notification should have been made. Our handling of this needs to be improved. Our communication within our own stations had problems. I didn’t know about the closure. We should have been proactive, but we have fixed the problem so that next time this won’t happen.”
Glafkides said Caltrans should have informed the city about the closure as well.
Mayor Jeff Jennings, who said he was amazed to see the lengthy traffic backup as he drove by it while traveling westbound, stated in an interview this week that the city needs to review how the notification process for situations like this are supposed to work.
“If the Sheriff’s Station said they were supposed to notify us and didn’t do it, then obviously the wires got crossed somewhere” Jennings said. “I have a feeling that nobody was notified in advance, and we’ll have to review that protocol.”
Jennings said there is a policy for Caltrans to notify the city about lane closures due to movie shoots, and a similar one should exist for situations involving private parties.
The lack of communication regarding the situation did not end with the lane closure notification. According to Caltrans, the permit called for no valet parking. But this was not followed, and valet parking was conducted, further affecting the traffic situation. Sgt. Price, who was on the scene that day, said he was unaware the permit specified no valet parking. Bonfilio said she did not know why it occurred despite the permit stating it was not allowed.
Billionaire allowed to close lane
The lane-closure permit was granted to billionaire David Saperstein, who made his mega fortune when he sold his traffic and news radio updating service, Metro Networks, to Westwood One in 1999 for $1.25 billion in stock. Saperstein, who lives in Malibu and Texas, was hosting his daughter’s wedding across the street. The permit, Bonfilio said, actually allowed the lane closure to continue through to 6 a.m., but she said the lane was reopened at midnight.
Bonfilio defended the lane closure as a safety measure because it wouldn’t be a good idea to have people parking on the side of the highway, and then crossing to reach the other side. Numerous cars were still parked along Pacific Coast Highway, and then people gathered onto the shuttle buses.
Caltrans’ Chief of Permits approves Lane closure permits on a case-by-case basis, Bonfilio said. No lanes can be closed on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu during the summer months through Labor Day. Although the wedding took place after Labor Day, Mayor Jeff Jennings said this was still not an appropriate time to shut down a portion of Malibu’s main road.
“All we can do is hope for Caltrans to use a little common sense,” said Jennings, noting the city does not have any authority in this matter. “It was the weekend just after Labor Day. It was hot, and people are still going to the beach. This was hardly a situation where you say, ‘There is not going to be a lot of traffic on the highway.'”
City Manager Jim Thorsen said at last week’s City Council meeting that he is looking into getting that moratorium extended beyond Labor Day, and include the few weeks following the holiday.