Traffic was backed up in Pacific Palisades this morning because two lanes were closed on PCH near the California Incline.
In the second time in a few weeks, traffic was snarled in Pacific Palisades in the morning as drivers tried to avoid Pacific Coast Highway by taking Sunset Boulevard.
Two southbound lanes of PCH were closed near the California incline in Santa Monica. Southern California Edison was doing repair work because there was a power outage, last night, September19, that affected traffic signals.
Commuter traffic from Malibu, the Valley and Topanga all fed into PCH, which was backed up to Malibu. Motorists tried to escape the bumper-to-bumper gridlock by going up Sunset (at PCH) and turning off PCH to Temescal Canyon Road.
Councilmember Traci Park’s office was notified but had received no warning of the lane closures. Department of Transportation officials were unaware of the closures, so were not onsite.
One Highlands resident, trying to get downtown reported that he had not heard of the closures, and when he saw that PCH was backed up, turned around and thought he would go down Sunset. He barely made it to the Marquez turn before that road became gridlock, too, and he turned around and went home.
It was August 29, when a semi-truck was traveling south on PCH around 4:30 a.m.. and the driver reportedly swerved to avoid a pedestrian in the roadway.
Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the accident. There were no injuries, but the big rig had blown a tire and damaged the guard rail. Diesel fuel had leaked onto the road. A hazmat team was called. The road was closed for nearly 12 hours, causing massive backups.
My question is can the LADOT dispatch personal here to help direct the flow of traffic when an incident like todays occurs?
We are step children to the city if LA!! Nobody to direct traffic when the PCH is closed or has traffic issues and Sunset traffic is a mess!! What if there is a fire or even worse an earthquake, what measures is the city taking to protect and aid our town?? What are our taxes paying for when we cannot get any help! I am disgusted and frustrated. Tracy Park, we definitely need you to work on this major issue!!