Publisher’s Notebook

• PCH Praxis: Malibu Road Woes •

ANNE SOBLE

If a tree falls on Pacific Coast Highway and no one is there, not only will it make a loud sound, but it also will probably clog the roadway for hours. This take on the philosophical riddle about perception and reality was anything but theoretical when thousands of commuters were faced with a closed PCH on Monday. Of course, the inevitable phone calls were placed to the newsroom along the line of, “Why does it take so long to remove a tree?” but usually phrased less politely.
One can only conjecture how many sign-offs are required for multiple bureaucracies to spring into action and resolve what appears to be the kind of occurrence that should not have the ability to cripple the main artery for several communities. Why the official mindset isn’t to move as much debris off to the side as quickly as possible and deal with other issues such as power lines in a prescribed area in order to get traffic flowing quickly is pure puzzlement.
Baffled is also our response to Caltrans scheduling a major tear-up and resurfacing of Pacific Coast Highway during the weeks leading up to and likely including the Labor Day holiday. This is, after all, a beach community. Fortunately, the temperatures recently have been well below the triple-digit mark, otherwise one can only imagine some of the potential snafus, as the number of local visitors increases exponentially.
We know there is no optimum time for doing major roadwork, but factors other than when the funding check is cut should play a part in scheduling. And, of course, the agency can’t use its longstanding excuse of wanting to avoid the rainy season because there’s a drought. Maybe the oft tongue-in-cheek explanations of indifference or sadism are not so far off, after all.
In addition to taking a toll on vehicle suspension systems and alignments, the roadwork is occurring during the kind of weather and the time of year that attracts large numbers of cyclists to PCH. That the roadwork may have been a factor in recent bicycle accidents is under investigation. Motorists are forewarned that extra caution is warranted when sharing the corrugated surface lanes with other forms of transportation.
There is one plus to the current scheduling. At least the bulk of the construction work is going on overnight and, as long as crews aren’t assembled in front of one’s own house when the residents are trying to get some sleep, the realization that the impact on daytime commuters is less might be somewhat heartening.
Until the roadwork is completed and the long lines of trucks and equipment have left Malibu, everyone is urged to pay close attention to the construction warning signs, hold on to their steering wheels and try to avoid falling prey to bruxism because their tires won’t have the luxury of being able to do the same.