Malibu’s divisive sewer likely won’t win many fans with the upcoming weeks of construction around town.
Public Works Director Bob Brager announced in a presentation to city council that several roads will experience lane closures in the upcoming months as the city lays infrastructure and pipelining for the wastewater treatment facility. There will not be any full road closures.
On Aug. 29, the right-hand turn lane out of Malibu Bluffs Park was closed. Traffic out of the remaining lane may turn left and right onto Pacific Coast Highway. The city anticipates this lane will be closed for four weeks.
The city plans more lane closures starting Sept. 6.
Malibu Canyon Road’s northbound traffic will have one lane closed on the right-hand side where an open trench will be dug.
The two left turn lanes of PCH that turn onto Malibu Canyon Road will be reduced to one lane to avoid the open trench on Malibu Canyon Road’s right lane. This closure should take “about a week — week and a half,” according to Brager.
A significant amount of construction will occur at the intersection of Civic Center Way and Webb Way starting in mid-September. Traffic heading eastbound on Civic Center Way will be reduced to one lane. Webb Way will have three lanes removed for construction, leaving only one lane for traffic to flow in either direction.
Various numbers have been provided on the length of this construction ranging from six to 15 weeks.
Finally, Malibu Road may potentially experience alternating one way traffic as the city installs injection wells. The city suggested that the use of flaggers to direct alternating traffic may not be necessary if enough space is available for traffic to flow in both directions.
Malibu Public Works did not respond to requests for comment.
One road closes, another opens
After 17 months of construction, the world famous California Incline will reopen on Sept. 1.
Originally set to open on Memorial Day earlier this year, the project was pushed back after Santa Monica City Council approved the Idaho Avenue Pedestrian Overcrossing Project in November 2015.
The City of Santa Monica will host an event commemorating the incline’s reopening. The public will be able to walk along the incline, take photos, and enjoy music and refreshments from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., before the road opens to vehicle traffic at 5 p.m. The event will be attended by several Santa Monica officials and Malibu Mayor Lou La Monte
“[The California Incline has] needed this renovation for quite a while,” La Monte said
The new 16-foot-wide bridge was built to accommodate a pedestrian/bicycle path.
“Our new California Incline is not only a feat of modern engineering; it’s the fruit of great human effort, sure to be with us for some time to come,” Civil Engineer for Public Works Curtis Castle said in a press release.
Rebuilding efforts for the California Incline started in the 1990s but the project was paused after the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The project was rejuvenated in 2007 after the city eventually received $17 million in federal funding.
The last time the incline was rebuilt was in the 1930s.
Although the incline will open on Sept. 1, the Overcrossing Project will not open until later in September after lights and safety railings are installed.
