First speed camera signs go up on PCH at Decker Play

The first signs for Malibu's automatic speed cameras went up Wednesday on PCH at Decker Canyon Road. A sign crew from Tennessee spent the afternoon putting up the new signs. They're beginning now to set up the electronics for the radar — actually the LiDAR — camera system.

Five sets of signs and cameras will be set up for eastbound traffic and five identical sets for westbound traffic. These are set locations in Malibu: Decker Canyon, Zuma Beach, Latigo Beach, Billionaire's Beach and Tuna Canyon at the city's east end.

The cameras at the eastern end of the city are technically within the 25 mile-an-hour speed zone. But traffic at that location is routinely clocked at 40 or 45 miles an hour — almost double the speed limit.

At those two locations, traffic conditions do not match the specific requirements of the state law that allowed the traffic cameras to be set up. The signage is inconsistent. Average traffic flows are a mess because of construction, but most cars go through that area at the old speed limit of 45, not the new speed limit of 25.

The cameras are scheduled to be turned on late this month, with warnings only for the first two months. Full fines will be sent out beginning in late November.