The group will hold meetings every Monday morning to invite ideas and solutions to alleviate accidents and deaths on the highway.
By Olivia Damavandi / Assistant Editor
Increasing the safety on Pacific Coast Highway is not a new issue, but another wave of efforts to do so is currently underway.
In the wake of the death of a local teen and at least three other people who this month were struck and killed by cars on the highway, various residents have formed a group called “A Safer Pacific Coast Highway,” or A.S.P.C.H, to address traffic safety along the highway in response to the recent tragedies, while preventing others from happening.
Additionally, newly elected Malibu City Councilman Lou La Monte has made his first goal to get the California Highway Patrol back again to patrol the highway within city limits.
“Our intent is to work with other concerned residents, the [Public] Safety Commission of Malibu, the Malibu City Council, Sheriff’s Department and many other agencies to come up with ideas and solutions to make the highway safer for everyone-motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists alike,” A.S.P.C.H member Susan Sau said last week in a written statement. “We’ll be meeting every Monday morning at 10 a.m. at 6269 Frondosa Drive in Malibu West. Everyone is welcome to join us with their ideas and their expertise.”
The formation of the group has launched a bevy of safety suggestions from local citizens. While many have advocated the reimplementation of the California Highway Patrol along the highway within city limits, some say doing so will not improve its safety.
“PCH is a uniquely lethal main street through our uniquely linear city, and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Traffic Control [sic] are doing everything possible to remedy the chaos and afford safety,” resident Dan Hillman said in an e-mail Monday.
Hillman said employing the CHP would require changing state law, which currently does not permit state traffic control through incorporated areas, and changing the radio communication system of one or both agencies so they could communicate.
Malibu is one of two cities in the state that does not receive traffic enforcement from the CHP for its state roads. Santa Clara is the other city. The California Vehicle Code specifies that CHP service in Malibu will be provided, if requested by the city, and if a contract is entered into between the state and the city. Also, if a contract is made for services, Malibu must pay for the service.
The loss of the CHP dates back to 1991 when Malibu became a city. In doing so, the city assumed responsibility for the roads and the highway in Malibu, as well as law enforcement, and entered into an exclusive contract with the Sheriff’s Department. Some city officials in past interviews have said the decision was made because it would be more cost effective to have just the Sheriff’s Department patrol the highway, since the CHP provides only traffic enforcement.
The city in past years has said it doesn’t have the money to also contract the CHP.
The solution proposed by Hillman is to further utilize three underused resources currently funded by the city: Dial-A-Ride, a Point Dume headlands bus and the Malibu Shuttle.
“If the city allocates part of the funds from these three underused sources to a free bus for Malibu kids, we get a triple header both ways and obviate the need to go begging for private funds to keep our kids (and possibly even adults) off PCH and enable them to get around our 27 miles safely, free and paid for by our tax money already in place,” Hillman said.
The Malibu Township Council is also exploring the feasibility of creating a local bus service in the wake of Malibu Middle School student Emily Shane’s death on the highway. The bus, as MTC Board Member Graeme Clifford suggested, would run a continuous loop around Malibu seven days a week, for all riders, and have stops at the local schools, library, the Boys & Club of Malibu Teen Center, the Senior Center, as well as the shopping plazas and beaches, among other places.
Clifford in a letter to the editor this week said the MTC suggested that it be named, “Emily’s Bus.”
Other residents, including city council candidate Matthew Katz, also recommended the construction of a barrier to shield bicyclists along the highway, while recognizing that such a plan is under the jurisdiction of Caltrans, not the city.
City Manager Jim Thorsen in a past interview said though Caltrans has complete jurisdiction over state highways, the city has made efforts to improve safety on PCH by installing speed advisory signs three years ago, implementing the traffic signal at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Corral Canyon (which took the joint effort of Caltrans and the city) earlier this year, and providing median dividers near Zuma Beach and Geoffrey’s restaurant.
Thorsen said plans are also in the works for a bike path along the highway to be constructed at the west end of Malibu.