A safety study of Pacific Coast Highway blamed speeding as the most frequent cause of accidents on the dangerous highway, and that five of the top six accident locations are in east Malibu.
The study also found that alcohol-related accidents have plummeted since 2000. The study is funded by a $300,000 grant from Caltrans and $75,000 contributed by the city.
Five of the top six accident locations since 2010 are in east Malibu, Petros said. Those includethe intersections at Big Rock Dr., Las Flores Canyon Rd., Carbon Canyon Rd., Sweetwater Canyon Dr. and Cross Creek Rd.
The study investigates hard traffic and accident statistics, land use issues and public input on the entire stretch of PCH in Malibu, from Topanga Canyon Boulevard to County Line. Officials hope the study will identify cost-effective renovations that will make PCH safer.
“[It] will examine the current conditions, analyze and identify potential strategies to promote improved safety,” according to a city staff report. “Ultimately, the study can be used as the basis for a master plan of safety improvements along PCH.”
The study is paid for with a $300,000 grant from Caltrans, awarded to the city and the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG). The city also contributed $75,000 to the study as part of the grant agreement.
The statistics were presented Thursday last week at the final public input meeting for the City of Malibu’s PCH safety study. The three previous meetings broke PCH in Malibu into three segments— east, central and west—and asked residents in those areas to weigh in on common problems.
Tony Petros of LSA Associates, an Irvine-based planning and engineering firm, presented the L.A. County Sheriffs Department statistics spanning back to 1990.
Petros found that speeding caused 35 percent of accidents along PCH, far more than those resulting from right of way violations, improper turning, unsafe lane changes and DUIs before they fell off the list. Unsafe speed, he said, includes driving too slow, too fast, or even stopping to wait for parking.
Petros then gave a PowerPoint presentation breaking down issues of concern on PCH in east, central and west Malibu.
He began with the Topanga to Cross Creek stretch, listing statistics relating to cars, bikes and pedestrians in that portion.
The number of cars driving that part of PCH ranged from about 45,000 to 47,500 a day, and jumped 8 to 10 percent higher during summer. Bicycle use skyrocketed on weekends, hitting 200 per hour, most of which was recreational and not commuting, Petros said. He added that PCH at Las Flores Canyon Road suffered a strong concentration of unsafe speed accidents from January to May of this year.
In central Malibu, defined as Cross Creek Road to Busch Drive, high foot traffic was recorded at both the Cross Creek Road and Paradise Cove Road intersections with PCH. Pedestrian traffic at Cross Creek surpassed 200 people an hour, while at Paradise Cove the figure was 150 people per hour.
Petros called attention to Paradise Cove’s narrow shoulders that grow chock-full of parked cars and force pedestrians into the slow lane.
“We’ve experienced it. We have a host of photos,” he said.
However, the top unsafe speed accident locations from January 2012 to May 2012 concentrated near Webb Way, not Paradise Cove. Roughly 31,000 to 42,000 vehicles cruise this stretch per day.
During summer traffic was recorded at eight to 10 percent higher than the rest of the year. Weekend bike traffic hit 130 an hour.
From Busch Drive to County Line, total traffic was much lower, but the traffic figures jumped much higher in the summer months. Vehicle traffic ranged from about 14,000 to 21,000 vehicles daily.
But its summertime traffic numbers surge 19 percent higher, a much stronger difference than the other sections.
Petros also found that DUI accidents declined sharply after 2000 when compared with the previous decade. He stressed that DUI accidents may still be occurring, just too rare to spark a trend. Nonetheless, he congratulated the room of about 15.
“That’s a good job. That’s a good thing,” he said.
Local officials attending the meeting included Malibu Mayor Lou La Monte, council member Laura Zahn Rosenthal, Public Works Director Bob Brager and Public Works Analyst Elizabeth Shavelson.
Other attendees included representatives from the offices of Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Assemblymember Betsy Butler and Senator Fran Pavley, as well as Caltrans engineers.
The public has until Oct. 13 to lodge their online concerns by visiting Malibu.Metroquest.com and clicking “Show us.”