I am opposed to a traffic signal being installed at Corral Canyon and PCH. Although I realize that it can be difficult at busy times to make a left hand turn from Corral onto PCH, I think a traffic signal is not a good idea.
One of the joys of driving along PCH is that you can do it for long stretches without stopping at any lights or stop signs. The stretch from John Tyler to Paradise Cove is a wonderful drive and putting a traffic light there would greatly diminish the mentally therapeutic effects of a drive along PCH.
What makes Malibu different from other Southern California beach communities is its rural ambience. Manhattan Beach, Laguna and Newport all have lots of traffic signals and the presence of all those signals greatly reduces the country feel of those towns.
More traffic lights actually impede traffic flow. Why in the world anyone ever installed a traffic light at Zumirez is beyond me. There may be a handful of people who feel safer turning left onto Zumirez from PCH with a light. I think they now all realize that they have also incurred some wasted time sitting there waiting for the left turn signal (even when there is no traffic coming) before they can turn. And when they finally do get a left turn arrow, now they have stopped traffic on PCH just for their one car to turn left! I am probably the only person who actually crosses PCH at Zumirez to go to and from work and I wish the light wasn’t there. My one lone car is required to trip the signal for me to cross which stops traffic on PCH.
We should actually work towards getting rid of the one at Zumirez. If you feel that this wild terrain out here needs to be tamed with a few more traffic lights, I urge you to go down to Newport Beach for a long weekend and drive around and deal with all the traffic lights and see how you like it. Then you might consider living in a place that has more traffic lights rather than trying to bring more traffic lights to some of the most beautiful driving areas of California’s famed Pacific Coast Highway.
Rick Mullen