NOT APPROVED EVACUATION ROUTE:
A car went over the Via de las Olas Bluffs at Friends Street, in the early a.m. on February 20. The car landed on the first plateau. The couple inside were uninjured.
Some thought that since there are so few evacuation routes available out of Pacific Palisades, an enterprising individual attempted to discover a new one.
Yet, at least another person reported that it might have been sexual activity, which led the driver to hit the gas and explode over the side of the cliff. The car was gone off the bluffs by midafternoon.
PILING IT UP:
On February 16, Santa Monica Canyon residents were alarmed to hear a loud rumbling sound in the channel behind their homes.
Water rushed up the sides of the concrete flood channel walls. Had the rain not stopped when it did, water could have poured into neighboring yards and onto the streets.
When the rain and water subsided, huge slabs of concrete could be seen piled in the channel. County and City officials were contacted by resident Sharon Kilbride.
Councilmember Traci Parks office responded immediately. “Preliminary reports from LA County Public Works field engineers for the Santa Monica Channel say the concrete overlay that was installed in the 1970s has peeled off and this was the material in the channel.”
Work to remove the concrete started today, February 20 and will take four to five weeks depending on the weather. Work will take place Monday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Broken and loose concrete will be removed and transported to the channel in the Amalfi Drive area. There will be an excavator at the dead-end cul-de-sac near Amalfi Drive to lift the material into haul trucks. About 40 truckloads of material are expected to be removed. During busiest times eight to 10 truckloads per day will leave the area to an approved disposal site.
Disposal trucks may be staged at a nearby beach parking lot to minimize congestion.