Caltrans to Shift PCH Lanes Inland for Rebuild Access Play

Caltrans is coming up with plans to shift traffic lanes back away from the ocean on Pacific Coast Highway in the Malibu fire zone at the eastern end of the city.

People who are rebuilding their oceanfront houses are clamoring for more room to unload construction material safely.

City manager Joe Irwin said last night that Caltrans plans to move lanes around next week.

"We call Caltrans and have weekly meetings with them to talk about the concern that we have within their right of way for rebuild applicants utilizing PCH right of way," Irwin said. "They are conducting a final survey of PCH this week and they should start constructing the lane shifts towards the end of next week."

City council members said they were worried that Caltrans may take away the center left turn lane to make way for the construction access lane. But the city manager says Caltrans will squeeze both in.

Malibu residents have begun to flood city hall with plans to rebuild after last year's fires. Around 750 houses were destroyed by the Franklin and Palisades fires.

Building official Yolanda Bundy says the flood has begun.

"We have 250 applications that have made it through the planning process," Bundy said. "Of those 250 applications, 50 of those families have building construction permits and they are already moving through with building their homes. And we have 58 applications that are going through the building plan check."

The council last night approved hiring a second coastline engineering company to help review the flood of beachfront housing plans that have come in. These require complicated analysis of wave uprush, stability of the rocks, even looking to see if PCH will fall onto the property.

Last night, the city council approved hiring a company called MV5 to assist the current coastal engineers, Moffatt and Nichol. Bundy said the idea is to give beachfront landowners faster answers than they have been getting.

"The expectations for not only MV5 but Moffatt Nichol is that a 10-day turnaround time for the first review is critical," Bundy said. "And then the five days for the second review. We don't want to see a third or fourth review."