Traffic on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica Canyon at 6:30 a.m. Drivers are trying to avoid PCH.
“At 6:30 a.m. I went to my house in the Marquez area,” a reader told CTN. “It took 50 minutes to get off PCH and into the town.”
The resident reported that traffic on PCH was backed up to the McClure Tunnel. The two northbound lanes were channeled into one lane. “They’re doing something wrong here.”
His house is still standing, but he had to wait for an hour and a half for a crew to make it to his home. “It takes 10 hours of the contractor’s time, a lot of it spent in traffic, so he only has six hours to spend on my house.”
He asked that three PCH lanes be opened going into Pacific Palisades.
His concerns were echoed by Doug Suisman, the Interim President of the Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association, who sent a letter to Ca. Senator Ben Allen’s office and to Lee Haber, Chief Safety Officer and Principal Transport Engineer for CalTrans District 7.
“We fully support the restrictions imposed by Mayor Bass on access to the Palisades, most notably at the intersection of West Channel and PCH. But an overall increase in traffic is now having negative impacts on our community and causing widespread confusion, disruption, and concern.
“Businesses which have just re-opened are losing their loyal customer base due to hour-long waits to get into the Canyon. Teachers and parents at Canyon Elementary must wait in long lines of trucks to reach the school.
“Residents who are still remediating or repairing their homes find it difficult for them or their contractors to reach residential streets, which are often packed if not gridlocked with hundreds of construction vehicles, including massive concrete trucks, headed for the checkpoint to get into the Palisades via Chautauqua or on Sunset.
“These trucks are a good sign of the progress being made in the Palisades. But the operation of the checkpoints must be improved. . . .The matter is surely complicated by the overlay of Federal (Army Corps), State (CalTrans, Highway Patrol, National Guard), County (Public Works), and City agencies (LAPD, Public Works).”
He suggested a meeting to discuss possible solutions:
- adding an access lane on northbound PCH?
- additional checkpoint officers?
- better signage for drivers?
- Fastrak type permits using license plates, with a dedicated thru lane?
- Staggered and/or extended work hours? • Partial re-opening of Entrada at PCH?
- Periodic closure of West Channel to support community and business revival?
Maybery is a small residential street that cannot handle heavy traffic. Contractors are using it as a way to avoid PCH.
Diana Jimenez, Public Information Officer with Caltrans District 7, wrote in a March 20 email in response to CTN’s query about PCH.
Caltrans is sensitive to the impact the closure has on the communities of Santa Monica, Los Angeles and Malibu, and we know this hasn’t been easy. The combination of the extensive damage from the Palisades Fire and subsequent storms and flooding is an extraordinary situation, and it requires extraordinary circumstances and interagency coordination.
Caltrans, in coordination with local partners and affected agencies, expanded access in the closure of Pacific Coast Highway to residents of Palisades and Malibu and unincorporated areas of LA County who live in the burn scar areas, essential businesses and their employees and school bus traffic.
We are working to get motorists back to as normal as possible, but that can’t happen if urgent recovery work isn’t completed. PCH is still an active work zone as crews help recovery from the Palisades fire and subsequent storms and flooding. The US Army Corps has been very active removing debris and SoCal Edison is undergrounding utilities along portions of PCH.
We appreciate the public’s patience as we work with local, state, and national agencies to rebuild after this disaster. More information can be found here: Following Improved Weather Conditions, Pacific Coast Highway Reopened Earlier than Anticipated Today to Businesses, School Buses and Residents Who Live in Palisades Fire Burn Area | Caltrans