The results of months of engineering studies, measurement and data collection along Malibu’s 27 miles of Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) were presented at two public meetings this week, identifying over 90 “existing conditions” as potential safety concerns that may need to be remedied. While some of the possible safety issues were “pervasive,” meaning that they occur along the entire length of Malibu’s portion of PCH, other problems identified were location specific. Safety was examined from the perspective of cars, bicycles and pedestrians on PCH.
Anthony Petros, principal of LSA Associates, Inc., gave presentations on Tuesday and Thursday evenings followed by a question and answer session. Petros said Thursday the results of the study are not meant to sit on someone’s desk.
“This is meant to be an actionable effort so that real problems are addressed and measurable change is made,” he said.
In fact, some of the problems identified by the study are already being fixed. For example, Caltrans is currently doing shoulder maintenance along certain portions of PCH by pulling back overgrown vegetation, and a 1,000-foot parking restriction on either side of Paradise Cove is already in process between the City of Malibu and Caltrans.
The Tuesday meeting was attended by 30 people, including members of the LA County Sheriff’s Department and representatives of several local homeowners’ associations, and the Thursday meeting was attended by 20 people, including members of the local cycling community and the Public Safety Commission.
Petros hopes to have the project wrapped up by this fall. In the meantime, his company will complete the engineering analyses to assign priorities to each of the safety issues, develop funding strategies to pay for fixing the problems, and meet with Caltrans.
The Draft Safety Assessment Report can be found on the city’s website at http://www.malibucity.org/download/index.cfm/fuseaction/download/cid/20470/