Caltrans to brief Malibu council on PCH stability after fire damage Play

The question of the geologic stability of Pacific Coast Highway in eastern Malibu is very much an open question.

Motorists may not see it, but right behind the concrete temporary railings, there are vertical drop-offs directly to the churning ocean.

The fires of January 2025 burned down the wooden piers and retaining walls beneath houses — not to mention 70 houses. These planks protected Pacific Coast Highway from wave action, in some cases for 100 years.

Caltrans engineers have been measuring the damage and assessing the threat to the highway.

This is a big deal for the city. Malibu City Council members are considering building a sewage system for the homeowners who lost their houses. Many of them want to rebuild.

If the sewer system doesn't go in, then each individual homeowner will be responsible for building ocean protection structures to protect new construction and new septic tanks.

Caltrans officials will appear before the City Council next Monday, for the first time, to give Malibu an engineering update.