Temescal Canyon Road has been turned into a steel/concrete recycling area.
Temescal Canyon Road, which was initially a check point has been closed off and is the site of recycling for the Army Corps of Engineers.
Pacific Palisades has had problems with traffic ingress and egress almost since the town was founded. There are not enough roads for an evacuation, which was evidenced during the Palisades Fire. People had to jump out of their cars and run to the ocean. The cars blocked roads preventing fire truck access and a bulldozer came and plowed cars out of the way.
Now with debris removal underway, contractors, residents and the workers, such as those at eateries and other services, experience morning gridlock.
There are three ways into Pacific Palisades: Sunset Boulevard (east and west), Chautauqua Boulevard and Temescal Canyon Road.
After the fire, Pacific Coast Highway, which runs to the west and north of Pacific Palisades was closed except for emergency vehicles, which meant the town of about 28,000 had lost a roadway.
PCH is still often closed, especially during rainy weather, which impacts Castellammare, Sunset Mesa and people traveling to Malibu and to Topanga (and Topanga Canyon Road has also been closed.)
Temescal Canyon Road has been shut down and is serving as a metal/concrete recycling center for the Army Corp of Engineers.
That leaves two roads to get into the Palisades, Sunset and Chautauqua. Anyone entering the town must have either a resident pass (red) or a contractor/workers pass (blue) Often the line of trucks/cars on PCH to access Pacific Palisades via Chautauqua goes back to the incline. People have complained of up to an hour wait to access the town.
Once contractors start building, traffic will only intensify. Several readers thought the City should have plans on how to speed up entry to the Palisades.
One wrote: In my career, seeing potential problems and implementing operational solutions before they occurred was a necessity. Contrast this with politicians who can only react.
He writes “One of the debris removal workers told me yesterday that he leaves his home in Long Beach at 4:30 a.m., drives for up to an hour, then waits in the access line for an hour to get to the job site by 6 – 6:30 a.m.
“The last time I saw vehicles waiting to access the Palisades from PCH, the line extended back nearly to the Annenberg. Since then, I have avoided this route, preferring Sunset or West Channel. My assumption is the PCH situation hasn’t notably improved and with increasing numbers of contractors, has the most potential for improvement.”
The reader was challenged to offer solutions and came up with some ideas:
Overview
Utilize three northbound traffic lanes beginning at the California incline. Traffic will encounter a sequence of:
- Informative signage identifying the upcoming routing that will be used for different categories of vehicles
- A transition stretch extending to the Annenberg where each vehicle is directed into the appropriate lane (queue)
- Check points for each lane
- Intersection control at Entrada/Chautauqua
Vehicle classifications
Self-identifying based on the type of vehicle and its markings – dump trucks and other heavy equipment, utility company vehicles, news vans
Residents, local employees, municipal government – driver’s license and pre-authorized plaque, official vehicles
Contractors – driver’s license or license plate, and pre-authorized plaque
Access for police, fire, military and similar traffic to be planned in coordination with these services.
Lane assignments
Residents, employees – least used lane
Lane 1 (rightmost) – self-identifying vehicles
Lane 3 (leftmost) – contractors
Lane 2 (center) – all else
Lane screening
The objective is to wave lane 1 through, take a quick glance at resident, employee, and Lane 3 contractor credentials, and perform exception processing in Lane 2. Lane 1 and 3 screening is performed early (further south) so exceptions are quickly reassigned to Lane 2. Since heavy equipment and utility vehicles are easiest to identify, lane 1 might start ahead of the California incline.
Obtaining authorization
Residents, employees and contractors all require pre-authorization.
Residents As is done today; at the disaster center and other locations where proof of residence can be confirmed. These are considered permanent.
Employees Employers, including households, apply for authorization to issue a limited number of employee passes (name and location of business, EIN, name and contract info). The employer is then responsible for assigning and distributing the passes. An expiration period and renewal process should be considered. Alternatively, employers can obtain employee credentials from a central location in the Palisades. This authorization and a form of identification are used at the vehicle check points.
Contractors In addition to the Employee process, a processing station can be reinstated in the parking area north of the Pier, as was done early on for residents. Authorized contractors pre-enter their employee identification, which is accessed when the employee presents him/herself. Both extended and day passes are issued. Authorizations are issued on-the-spot and the vehicle rejoins traffic for immediate access. 5AM-3PM hours of operation, six days a week.
An online platform is needed for employee and contractor authorizations, and bar/QR codes may expedite check point processing.
Process management
Time-of-day vehicles counts are used to ascertain the effectiveness of the process and identify bottlenecks and where a correction may be needed.
Another Novel Idea
Another reader came up with a novel idea: transponders. “I don’t have a lot of tech knowledge so this may be a stretch. I pay a fee to use toll roads and hi occupancy vehicle lanes and I have a transponder mounted in the window of my vehicle. There are overhead readers on the freeway that record me in the HOV’s and I’m billed accordingly. I can exit a toll road without stopping because it reads the transponder and I’m billed accordingly. Why can’t authorized vehicles be issued transponders? Then dedicate one lane, with a reader nearby, so authorized vehicles would not have to stop for a further check. Might not work everywhere but might work where there are multiple lanes.”
Is there a time window when entering traffic eases and residents might find it a little easier to get in? (After 9:00 am? 10:30? Noon?)
FYI, Tracy Park said opening up PCH might take 6-18 months! I spoke to Spruzzos restaurant and they are waiting for PCH to open before they do. I’m sure other businesses will wait also. PCH needs to open sooner than later because residents whose homes didn’t burn down need some normalcy or they won’t stay here much longer.
It might be worth bringing back a version of the famed Santa Monica Long Wharf and using it as a dock for barges to haul the debris away. This would eliminate a vast amount of traffic. Ironically, the Long Wharf was located at the base of Temescal (the plaque is still there)! Army Corp has floating piers that can be deployed faster than you can say “GI Joe.”