Finally, a Bit of Good News About PCH
By Damian Kevitt
I have some good news related to the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). Okay, admittedly, I’m not ecstatic, jumping up and down for joy, but it’s at least something tangible that will help, to a degree, to save lives and make roads safer on PCH through Malibu.
First, for those who might avoid all news and social media, here is a review of the back story. (As a note, avoiding all news and social media is not necessarily bad. You should try doing it for a week or two; your stress levels go way down; it’s amazing.)
On the evening of 17 October 2023, 20-year-old Niamh Rolston, 21-year-old Peyton Stewart, 21-year-old Asha Weir, and 21-year-old Deslyn Williams had just parked and were walking to a mixer at a home along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu known as Dead Man’s Curve.” At around 9 PM, Fraser Michael Bohm was driving at 104 MPH when he lost control of his vehicle, hitting multiple parked cars before hitting and killing all four women and injuring two others.
Fraser Michael Bohm has since been charged with four counts of murder and four counts of gross vehicular manslaughter. These were the 55th, 56th, 57th, and 58th fatalities on PCH just in Malibu since 2010. On Christmas Eve, 2023, PCH took yet another life, the 59th fatality since 2010.
The Good News …
On 22 Jan 2024, the Malibu City Council approved a two-year contract, with a financial commitment of up to 2 million dollars, to fund a three-officer CHP task force to patrol the most hazardous stretch of PCH. This is in addition to increased patrols by the Lost Hills Malibu Sheriff Station. These officers will be dedicated to looking for drivers and motorcyclists speeding through Malibu or doing other dangerous maneuvers that could endanger other drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists.
This is the first time in 30 years that Malibu will have additional patrols to cover the city limits. It happened directly due to pressure from the community to take immediate action to reign in dangerous drivers on this stretch of road.
We Haven’t “Solved PCH”
So, yes, it’s good news. This doesn’t mean that we have “SOLVED PCH.” PCH is designed as a dangerous high-speed road that goes through a busy and dense urban community that is now Malibu. Adding more traffic enforcement is an expensive band-aid with many holes in it. To really solve PCH, the following would need to happen:
The speed of PCH through Malibu's most dense urban areas would need to be slowed down to a speed more appropriate for that 2-3 mile section. I’d say 30-35 MPH, not the 45-50 MPH speed limit (which really means 50-60 MPH) that is currently in existence.
PCH needs to be redesigned with traffic calming measures, especially on the 2-3 miles through the center of Malibu.
It must be designed to be safer for the community, tourists, and everyone who uses it. This means adding sidewalks and many more crossings for people going to the beach. It means including protected bike lanes or dedicated bike paths separated from the road. It might mean removing parking from the far side of PCH so people don’t park and run across 5-7 lanes of traffic to get to the beach.
It means using speed cameras to automatically ticket all those who travel at 11 MPH over the speed limit and not depending on law enforcement to catch one person here and there.
Unfortunately, PCH remains under the control of Caltrans (not Malibu City), which is slowly moving through a process to make small incremental changes to PCH's engineering. For example, Caltrans recently began construction on a new traffic signal synchronization project that took seven years to start after funding was approved. When done with construction, this traffic synchronization project allows the agency to remotely control the timing of traffic signals on the highway and adjust them to lower traffic speeds or reduce congestion. The real question is when will it be finished? Current estimates are that it will take until the end of 2024 or longer.
Then there’s the $ 4.2 million Caltrans announced it will use to do other improvements. They include speed feedback signs, speed limit markings on the pavement, replacement safety corridor signs, and enhanced striping on curves. This is all fine, but it’s basically window dressing and won’t significantly improve PCH's safety. To understand why this is, check out this great video about PCH created by LEJ Explains.
I say all this critically, but as sad as it sounds, this is much better than what used to happen. Previously, community members or the City of Malibu would reach out and ask for safety improvements, and NOTHING would happen, or it would take seven years or longer (case in point, the traffic synchronization project).
I’ve been in regular contact with a key traffic engineer at Caltrans District 7 working on PCH, and it’s clear that he truly cares about the safety of PCH and is pushing as hard as he can on the painfully slow Caltrans machine.
SAFE is in This for the Long Haul!
SAFE has been in there pitching on all of this. We’ve been collaborating with a group of Malibu residents called Fix PCH and Captain Jennifer Seetoo of the Malibu Lost Hills Sheriff Station to demand these changes. This included ghost tire memorials for the four women, 58 ghost tires placed on World Day of Remembrance, participating in city council meetings, holding press conferences, and urging CALTRANS to accelerate and prioritize much-needed improvements.
SAFE is also working with State Senator Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica) on legislation to bring speed cameras to Malibu. If passed, they would join Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, and Long Beach, which are already participating in the speed camera pilot program just signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom (AB 645).
So, while this is good news, there’s a long way to go before SAFE can say we have a DONE — a safe and complete PCH through Malibu. We will keep fighting for it and keep you updated.