The City Council is scheduled to vote on the project at its July 24 meeting. Construction for the project could begin next month.
By Jonathan Friedman
Assistant Editor
At a joint-meeting last week of the Public Safety and Public Works commissions, the two bodies voted to support the Point Dume Safe Routes to School Walkway Project, but with a clause. The city staff must explore the possibility of moving the Dume Drive portion of the project from the east side to the west side. The full proposal will go before the City Council on July 24 for final approval.
Meanwhile, a group of 30 Dume Drive residents have signed a petition asking for their street’s portion of the multi-street pathway project proposed to provide a safe pedestrian route to Point Dume Marine Science Elementary School be moved to the west side.
According to the petition, many children will be forced to cross Dume Drive at the Heathercliff Road intersection if the pathway were built on the east side.
“Not a wise choice if safety is the primary concern,” the petition states. “Once that intersection is crossed, the kids will have to cross Grayfox as well, crossing against the primary flow of traffic at that hour… If the path is constructed on the west side, however, the children will only have to cross Dume Drive once on the southern side of the Grayfox intersection and they do not have to cross Grayfox at all. They will completely avoid the primary flow of school-based vehicular traffic.”
Claudio Sanchez, deputy city engineer, said in an interview on Monday that he still favored placing the pathway on the east side because “it’s the most direct route, we believe it’s the safer route.”
Richard Gibbs, who led the petition drive, said Sanchez’ opinion “defied logic.” Interim Public Works Director Granville “Bow” Bowman, who has been vocal in his opposition to putting the pathway on the west side of Dume Drive was not in his office on Monday when The Malibu Times called for comment.
The Safe Routes to School project stems from a $380,000 grant the city received from the federal government to build a five-foot wide trail along the streets near the elementary school. The trail is proposed to be made of decomposed granite, bordered by railroad tires, and stretch along the east side of Dume Drive from Heathercliff Road to Grayfox Street; the south side of Grayfox Street from Dume Drive to Fernhill; the west side of Fernhill Drive from Grayfox Street to Wildlife Road and the west side of Wildlife Road from Fernhill Drive until it connects with an existing small decompressed granite trail at Zumirez Drive.
Mayor Ken Kearsley, who is a major proponent of the project, said in an interview this week that he could be persuaded to support placing the Dume Drive pathway on the west side. He said there was also a possibility of putting pathways on both sides of the street. Kearsley declined to say whether he was confident the project was ready for a council vote, saying that will be determined on July 24.
Although the council does not vote on whether to approve the project until July 24, the city will begin to receive contract bids on July 19. If the project is approved at the meeting, construction could begin next month, and be completed by November.