A Private Traffic Light Is Installed On A Public Street
Written by 991KBU on June 19, 2019
Private crews have installed the new traffic light for the Malibu Beach Inn.
And it should hooked up and working soon.
It is the first new traffic light installed on Pacific Coast Highway in about 10 years.
It’s a pedestrian activated crosswalk … installed by the hotel as part of its project to move its parking lot across P C H.
The hotel won permission from Caltrans to install the signal by telling the state that Malibu had approved it.
And in fact … the city public works department apparently signed off on it.
But not the Planning Commission .. which in fact turned down the traffic plan submitted by the hotel.
The owner of the Malibu Beach Inn apparently convinced Caltrans that the Coastal Commission had ordered the signal installed… it had not.
And that the city planning commission had approved the signal … it had not.
In fact …. the planning commission rejected the hotel’s overall plans.
That decision is on appeal to the City Council … which means the city has not given approval to the traffic light …. contrary to what Caltrans is still saying.
Unlike other new pedestrian signals further east on P C H … the new traffic signal is not configured to allow drivers to stop and then proceed when the crosswalk is cleared of pedestrians.
Nor is it connected to the traffic signal just 480 feet west … at the Malibu Pier … leading to the possibility of even worse traffic jams in the center of Malibu.
Caltrans says the signal cannot be synchronized with the nearby traffic lights … because it is pedestrian activated.
One might call that the “cannot chew gum and walk at the same time” school of traffic engineering.
Caltrans has told the city the light goes in … because the developer paid for it.
An open question … must the light stay there.
Even if the city turns down the hotel’s parking lot across the street.
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As for Nobu … city officials say the restaurant has indeed submitted a new parking plan … and request for an updated Coastal Use Permit.
The city has threatened to shut the place down if it can’t solve it’s prking and traffic problems.
Nobu employees continue to park on P C H … and Nobu valets continue to park in office building garages that are reserved for beachgoers.
Eating at a $200 per person oceanfront restaurant does not count as going to the beach.
Nobu may be Southern California’s most profitable restaurant.
But it is also a major traffic bottleneck in Malibu.
City planning officials are reviewing the new Nobu plan … and have not released any details yet.
