Highway Patrol Sets Its ‘Cites’ on Malibu Mountain Road Safety

• Area Commander Forms Specialized Team to End Traffic Woes on the ‘Malibu Le Mans’

BY ANNE SOBLE

The Jabel Hafeet Mountain Road in the United Arab Emirates may rank higher, as does the Nürburgring Nordschleife (The Ring) in Germany, but for many aficionados of the cult of the speedometer, there are few American roads that are designed for canyon runs like Mulholland Highway as it wends its way through the Santa Monica Mountains to the beach at Leo Carrillo State Park.

The so-called canyon carvers, those who drive down mountain roads as fast as they can for the pleasure of it, extol Mulholland’s speedometer quotient on motorcycle and racing Internet sites with adjectives usually reserved for more intimate activities. It’s the Malibu version of the now outlawed Targa Florio.

But if the California Highway Patrol West Valley Area crew has its way, the days of local road rapture are drawing to a close. The new WVA commander has gone on record as implementing a zero tolerance policy with regard to speeding, illegal passing and other traffic violations.

Captain Stephen Webb said, “We are not going to stand for people endangering other people’s lives...and are going to apply the resources to make sure everyone clearly understands that ‘Operation Safe Canyons’ is not just rhetoric.”

Webb, a 23-year CHP veteran, who has garnered media attention for his ticket-writing prowess over the years, has been at West Valley for less than three months, but many residents say he has responded to concerns about canyon road safety to a greater degree than his predecessors.

Last Sunday, in the first of what are expected to be ongoing traffic watches in the Malibu mountains, Webb and a team of motorcycle and vehicle personnel, supported by the CHP helicopter, wrote about 75 citations. These were primarily for speeding, but included exhaust noise violations and a host of other road safety offenses.

Webb said drivers are bombarded by high-end (and not so high-end) automotive advertising that promotes speed over safety. It shows. He said that so far this year, there have been more than 60 major traffic accidents and two fatalities in the immediate vicinty.

Now, an infusion of federal, state and county dollars are expected to contribute to an increased effort, prompted by vociferous citizen protest in the Malibu Surfside News and other media.

Operation Safe Canyons includes the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in areas under its jurisdiction and has been strongly endorsed by all local elected officials.

But many residents report that the program has never been as proactive as it was last weekend.
SETTING SIGHTS—CHP Officer Christopher Swanberg focuses a handheld LIDAR unit on a stretch of roadway. LIDAR, or Light Detection and Ranging, uses laser energy to measure speed with even greater accuracy than radar.
ZERO TOLERANCE—Captain Stephen Webb (far right) goes over strategy with the special Operation Safe Canyons enforcement team on Sunday. Webb says the California Highway Patrol will have a strong ground and air presence at different times and different locations in the Santa Monica Mountains every weekend from now through October.

IN FLAGRANTE—Lt. Andy James and Officer Joe Vach write up the driver of a Ferrari F430 for speeding. The Berlinetta was stopped on a part of the road that is completely covered with skidmarks left by exhibitionist drivers putting lives at risk

Caltrans Installs Channelizers at Zuma Beach Stretch of PCH

• Temporary Measure Is Expected to Inhibit U-Turns Until a Concrete Center Curb Is Built

BY ANNE SOBLE

State Department of Transportation crews worked through the night on Tuesday to install channelization along a stretch of Pacific Coast Highway across from Zuma Beach that has seen three traffic deaths stemming from illegal U-turns in five months.

With one lane of PCH closed and heavy lighting equipment transforming night into day, a row of what are sometimes referred to as candlesticks, or yellow reflector sticks, was put in approximately 16-foot intervals between Morning View Drive and Guernsey Avenue to serve as a temporary barrier until Caltrans can finalize the funding to put in a raised concrete barrier.

The channelizers, the generic term for several types of traffic barriers with varying degrees of flexibility so they can be driven over by emergency vehicles, are viewed as the first step in addressing U-turn concerns for the location, according to Judy Gish, a spokesperson for the Caltrans region that serves Malibu.

Gish did not know why this type of channelizer with this degree of spacing was selected and said that the engineering information on which the decision was based would be made available. Candlesticks cost about one-third less that the more visible paddle posts and closer intervals would also have increased the price tag.SYMBOLISM—Caltrans crews worked late Tuesday night and pre-dawn Wednesday to install candlestick reflectors as a temporary safety measure on a stretch of Pacific Coast Highway across from Zuma beach where illegal U-turn accidents have claimed three lives in recent months. However, as evident above from the reflector spacing when compared to this large SUV, not only are illegal U-turns easily executable but the potential for head-on collisions is not diminished.

BARRIERS—Caltrans has used other types of channelizers, sturdier and more closely spaced, on nearby stretches of PCH. MSN Photos/George Hauptman

Council Debates Look for Cross Creek Road

• Former Adversaries Return for Appeal of Malibu Colony House Construction

BY BILL KOENEKER

It was supposed to be a consent item of the contract bid recommended by the staff at this week’s Malibu City Council meeting for the Cross Creek Road redesign planned for the commercial hub of Malibu.

However, council members, who have seen the plans on several occasions, almost denied the $1.6 million contract and turned the agenda item into a referendum on how the Civic Center design aesthetic should shape up.

“I would like to see hitching posts and am opposed to concrete gutters and sidewalks,” said Councilmember Ken Kearsley, who insisted the street should be lined with decomposed granite walkways.

“I want to see a place for arts and history and bike racks,” added Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich.

Both Kearsley and Conley Ulich insisted the city should take the most “green” building stance possible, since the design plan for the commercial area would be scrutinized.

“I have seen the results of DG. It adds to the ambiance. It will take a load off the [storm water treatment facility]. By the way it is a thing of beauty,” added Kearsley.

As politely as possible, the staff disagreed and explained how the grit of the DG surface would clog treatment pumps and the high pedestrian traffic area would suffer problems underfoot on the dirt-like surface. Council members were also told the DG surface is not permeable and would wash off during storms and enter the treatment plant, causing problems.

“If we don’t keep it green I won’t support it. We invested too much on cleaning the creek,” added Conley Ulich.

“We need to make it as green as possible,” agreed Kearsley. “This is the start of what we want in the Civic Center. We want to set the standard for [future development]. It will help improve the environment.”

Councilmember Andy Stern attempted to put the brakes on the new direction of some of the council, after members were told a redesign of the current plans might mean losing the grant funding of the project.

“This came before us. We saw it and it came back to us. Now you are saying something different. The porous concrete seems to accomplish the goal. What else do you want?” Stern asked.

Kearsley made a motion calling for a redesign of the project, including the new DG material and other new elements for the project.

Mayor Jeff Jennings said he did not feel comfortable dictating materials, but agreed the project would be a visible one. “The design and the plan must be highly environmental. Can we go forward if we redesign it? Do you want to pass on the $700,000 grant?” asked Jennings, who said he would not support the motion because the staff insisted the grant funding might be lost.

The motion failed on a 2-2 vote with Councilmember Sharon Barovsky absent. Stern and the mayor dissented.

Stern subsequently put forth a motion calling for the staff recommendation including installing pervious earth tone colored concrete in all of the sidewalks on Cross Creek Road as well as pervious asphalt in the parking areas. The motion succeeded by a unanimous vote.

Colony Appeal Denied

It was old adversaries lining up in council chambers this week, when an appeal of permits granted by the city’s planning commission for the construction of a new home in the Colony was heard.

Malibu attorney Frank Angel, and environmental activists Marcia Hansom and Roy van de Hoek joined Steve Littlejohn in challenging the construction of a new, two-story 5200 square foot, single-family home with an attached garage, pool and spa.

“There is something terribly rotten in the planning department,” said Angel, referring to the department’s findings on the project.

Just as a reminder, Angel recapped about the past opposition to the proposed BeauRivage bed and breakfast and how the group convinced the California Coastal Commission to deny the plans that were previously approved by the city.

Angel, Hanscom and others made it clear that they believed the commission would side with them again on the issues involved in the Colony house plans.

At least one council member was convinced of Angel’s intent and the probable appeal before the coastal panel.

“The case is barely stopping here on its way to the Coastal Commission,” Jennings said.

However, most council members seemed to take umbrage at Angel’s comments about the city’s stance on its coastal policies and his remarks about the municipality and its planning department.

“It defies my imagination how someone can slam us and our staff. How is that to the client’s advantage,” said Stern.

Jennings said once the coastal agency had adopted the Local Coastal Program they made it clear it was up to the city to apply the policies. “We were given clear instructions,” he said.

Angel went on to complain that the staff report had indicated there was no expert justification for the appellants’ complaints, but the 10-page letter with attachment submitted by him was not part of the record or staff report.

It could not be found and the council took a 15-minute break to gather the info and read his letter.

Nevertheless, that did not stop the council from ultimately denying the appeal.

The biggest issue was not the house, but a row of cypress trees that were the focus of attention because of conflicting assertions by the applicant and the appellants about their value as roosting and nesting sites for birds from the nearby lagoon and how the trees may or may not be impacted by the construction.

• The Publisher’s Notebook •

Traffic Is Top Woe in Malibu

BY ANNE SOBLE

Malibuites can find themselves hard pressed to find much wrong with this special part of the planet, but the most universal of the local woes tend to fall under the rubric of traffic, or what engineers who specialize in this realm call circulation. The problems are two-fold. The first is that there are too many vehicles in the so-called vehicle-to-road ratio. The second is that too many vehicles in this equation don’t adhere to traffic rules, a mark of indifference to or disregard for the law. Examples of these groups are the canyon carvers, some of whom received their comeuppance in last weekend’s California Highway Patrol traffic monitoring effort. In addition to solid ground reinforcements, aerial monitoring by a CHP helicopter helped put the chill on speeding. A similar effort by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Station in Lost Hills is now in order where it has jurisdiction on Pacific Coast Highway. There too, motorcycle exhausts should be ticketed for noise violations and the speeding, irresponsible passing and exhibitionism—burnouts, wheelies, doughnuts and the like—that especially occurs west of Trancas Canyon Road can be treated accordingly. Helicopter support would also work on the coastal front.

But not all of Malibu’s traffic woes are due to transgressors. Some of the problems are a result of the “one-solution-fits-all” mentality that is endemic in infrastructure bureaucracies. The Coast Highway is a state road under the direct supervision of the Department of Transportation, more familiarly dubbed Caltrans. It can take interminable pushing and prodding to correct problems, as has been the case with the dangerous stretch of highway across from Zuma beach that is finally expected to get U-turn barriers that are sorely needed.

Another example, which Malibuites who head north over Kanan Dume Road must now appreciate, is that tens of millions of dollars of work on the Ventura Freeway ramps there has done nothing to eliminate, and may even exacerbate, the summer beach traffic backup. Last Sunday, the line headed from the beach to the freeway had slowed to a crawl from well past Mulholland. Moving access ramps to the same side of the road is the current engineering vogue, but in this case, it appears to have created a worse bottleneck.