Caltrans to hold public workshop on PCH Segment A safety improvements in Malibu

By The Malibu Times · Tue Sep 08 2026

Project between Las Flores Canyon and Carbon Canyon roads advances as broader efforts continue to improve safety along Malibu’s 21 miles of PCH

Caltrans District 7 will hold a public workshop Wednesday, Sept. 16, on the Pacific Coast Highway Segment A Safety Improvement Project, giving Malibu residents an opportunity to weigh in on potential changes to a heavily traveled stretch of PCH between Las Flores Canyon and Carbon Canyon roads.

The workshop will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. at Malibu City Hall. The project is currently in the Project Initiation Document, or PID, phase, an early stage in which Caltrans is evaluating potential improvements, determining their feasibility and refining the project's scope.

Potential improvements being considered include intersection upgrades, signal modifications, improved pedestrian crossings and bicycle facility enhancements. Caltrans said the project is intended to improve safety and corridor operations for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users and motorists.

Project initiation began in spring 2026, with community meetings and public feedback continuing through the end of the year. Environmental review and design phases will follow, although dates for those stages have not yet been determined.

The Segment A project is part of a much larger effort to address longstanding safety concerns along Pacific Coast Highway through Malibu.

Building on the PCH Master Plan

Segment A grew out of Caltrans' PCH Master Plan Feasibility Study, which examined approximately 21 miles of the state highway through Malibu and identified potential short-, medium-, and long-term improvements.

The study looked at collision data and safety priority areas while considering ways to improve interactions among motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists and expand safe multimodal transportation options.

Public participation has been a significant part of that process. Caltrans held six workshops with residents, businesses and other stakeholders between July and September 2024 before releasing a draft of the Master Plan Feasibility Study in 2025.

The Segment A project moves portions of that broader planning effort into a more focused project-development process.

According to Caltrans, PCH serves not only as Malibu's primary transportation artery but also provides access to much of the city's residential, commercial and recreational areas. The corridor simultaneously carries regional traffic while serving pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders, residents and visitors.

Those competing uses, combined with high traffic volumes, constrained rights-of-way and a history of serious and fatal collisions, have made redesigning PCH one of Malibu's most complex and longstanding public-safety challenges.

PCH safety takes on new urgency

Efforts to make PCH safer intensified dramatically following the deaths of four Pepperdine University students on Oct. 17, 2023.

Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir and Deslyn Williams were killed while walking along PCH when a vehicle traveling on the highway crashed near the 21600 block.

The tragedy galvanized Malibu residents, Pepperdine students and families, traffic-safety advocates and local and state officials around calls for significant changes to the highway.

Less than a month later, on Nov. 13, 2023, the Malibu City Council declared a local emergency over PCH safety, citing dangerous, illegal, reckless and distracted driving and the growing threat to motorists, pedestrians and cyclists.

Although PCH runs through Malibu, it is State Route 1 and remains under Caltrans jurisdiction, requiring the city to work with state transportation officials, law enforcement and other agencies on many physical changes to the highway.

Since the 2023 tragedy, Malibu and its government partners have implemented or advanced a series of measures intended to address speeding and dangerous driving.

Those efforts have included increased Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department traffic enforcement, dedicated California Highway Patrol officers in Malibu, traffic-signal synchronization, Caltrans safety upgrades, public-awareness campaigns and additional infrastructure projects.

The broader strategy has combined enforcement and education with longer-term efforts to change the physical design and operation of PCH.

Speed safety cameras nearing launch

One of the most significant changes is now approaching implementation.

Malibu's new PCH Speed Safety System is expected to begin its 60-day warning period in late September, with citations scheduled to begin in late November.

The automated system was made possible by state legislation authorizing Malibu to use speed safety cameras along PCH.

Under the program, the system is triggered only when a vehicle is traveling at least 11 mph over the posted speed limit. The city has emphasized that the technology is not an automatic license plate reader or Flock surveillance system and does not continuously record passing vehicles.

The cameras are another component of what has become a multiagency effort to change driver behavior while longer-term infrastructure projects move through planning, environmental review, design and construction.

The Segment A project represents that longer-term side of the effort.

Rather than focusing exclusively on enforcement, Caltrans is evaluating how intersections, signals, crossings and bicycle infrastructure could be modified to reduce conflicts among the different people who use the highway.

Caltrans says the concepts under consideration remain preliminary and will continue to be refined as the project advances.

Community input sought

The Sept. 16 workshop will give residents and stakeholders an opportunity to learn more about what Caltrans is considering, ask questions and provide feedback before the project's scope is finalized. Caltrans said community input will help identify the needs of people who live near and travel through the corridor and will be used to inform project development.

PCH Segment A Public Workshop

Wednesday, Sept. 16

6 to 7 p.m.

Malibu City Hall

23825 Stuart Ranch Road

Residents who cannot attend can also submit comments to Caltrans through the Segment A project website or by email at pchsegment_a@publicinput.com.