Caltrans Plans Westbound Bike Lane, But Not Eastbound, In Malibu Business District
Written by 991KBU on March 17, 2025
]This story has been corrected, the constructions project will start in 2027, not this summer, And the meeting will not be fed on Zoom, it will be in person only. Caltrans has also set the April meeting date since this article was published: it will be April 9.]
Caltrans officials say they will install a westbound bike lane from Carbon Canyon to the Malibu Pier, but no eastbound bike stripes, as they repave the road in a $72 million project starting in the summer of 2027.
But grand plans for converting PCH into a boulevard, or other major traffic calming plans, will have to wait until long after an April public hearing, and after funding gets secured.
The state has changed its public announcement two times since a press release emerged last Friday … when Caltrans said pedestrian walking areas and bike lanes would be installed between Serra Road near Malibu Pier, and the McClure Tunnel at Santa Monica Pier.
KBUU News immediately asked Caltrans on Friday if that could be true … if Caltrans would start moving lanes around to install bike lanes on PCH in eastern Malibu?
The answer: No.
Caltrans is going to squeeze in bike lanes only where there is room on the shoulder … and not in the tight sections of PCH in eastern Malibu. About 71 percent of the affected roadway, and almost all of the Malibu burn zone, will not see any roadway geometry changes.
“There is no space for bike lanes on the (eastbound) 9,400-foot segment between Carbon Canyon and Serra Road.” said Caltrans spokeswoman Katy Macek in Los Angeles. “Bike lanes couldn’t fit between shoulder parking and the travel lanes.
“Caltrans has listened to concerns from the city and its residents and understands that parking is important along PCH,” she said.
Last week, Caltrans put our a news release that needed a little bit of finesse, and on Monday morning, a Caltrans spokeswoman ratcheted back the description of the repaving project.
The current plan, as stated Monday morning, is the addition of three small segments of bike lanes, including 1.8 miles of westbound PCH bike lane along Billionaire’s Beach, from Carbon Canyon Road to Serra Road, in the heart of Malibu.
Also, roughly a half mile of bike lanes in each direction near Bel Air Bay Club and Will Rogers State Beach.
Add it up, and Caltrans plans to install painted bike lanes along 29 percent of the pier-to-pier repaving project, comprising of
- a westbound 9,500-foot segment from Carbon Canyon to Serra Road;
- another 3,400-foot segment on the westbound side from Temescal Canyon Road to Bay Club Drive;
- and one 2,400-foot segment eastbound segment near Will Rogers State Beach.
The remaining 107,196 linear feet of PCH, in the two directions between Serra Road and McClure Tunnel, will be repaved but left without bike lanes. And for most of the PCH repaving project in Malibu, PCH will be in debris removal and roadside reconstruction chaos, which would likely block any bike lanes painted on the fresh asphalt.
Thousands of bicyclists per week will be left to mix with the traffic.
The latest Caltrans description is the third offered since late Thursday, when Caltrans announced it would install “additional Class II bike lanes and striping” on the highway. It did not announce that less than one third of the road would get bike striping.
The press release also promised “new sidewalks at multiple bus stop locations.” It did not say how people are supposed to walk to those bus stops, other than along the shoulder, where four pedestrians were killed last year.
After KBUU asked a list of questions, a Caltrans spokeswoman said the new bike lane stripes and sidewalks will not require any roadway widening, and will not result in any parking spaces being lost.
The agency spokeswoman stresses this $72 million project is simply to rehabilitate the badly-degraded pavement: it’s an asphalt overlay within the existing footprint.
This project will be explained to the public at an evening meeting March 27 at the Santa Monica Public Library, 38 miles from the Malibu Pier via Malibu Canyon and the 405/101/10 detour. No meeting in Malibu will be held, and there will not be a Zoom feed to the distant audience.
In addition to the repaving and restriping, pedestrian warning signs will be added at non-disclosed locations, and lighting will be improved in two ancient underground pedestrian tunnels near Santa Monica Canyon.
Caltrans says the pavement project also see upgrades at intersections to meet Americans With Disabilities Act standards, such as ramps. And some guardrail will be replaced with new metal beam guardrail.
The state tells KBUU that the geometry … the road layout … will not change in this project. That will come in later years … if the state adopts the proposals in the PCH Master Plan Feasibility Study … which has been substantially completed but not released to the public.
That was supposed to happen in December. The Franklin Fire hit the night before the meeting – it was cancelled.
Caltrans says they will make an announcement to reschedule that meeting once a date has been set in consultation with the city, probably it will be in April. The Caltrans spokeswoman says the agency has been consistent contact with the City of Malibu on releasing the PCH Master Plan Feasibility Study.
But the pavement rehab project starts summer 2027.
