The red x’s mark where new checkpoints will be put in place in Pacific Palisades starting tomorrow.
Although there will no longer be checkpoints on Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) when it opens to “everybody” tomorrow, May 23 at 8 a.m., residents may be relieved to learn that there will be additional checkpoints on arterial roads leading into the Village.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass thanked Governor Gavin Newsom for sending the National Guard to help with security these past four months. She added, “There will be 16 checkpoints (11 new and five existing) operating 24 hours a day.
The City is adding checkpoints at Tahitian Terrace, Palisades Bowl, Las Pulgas Canyon and Malibu Village to prevent non-residents from accessing Palisades from PCH. Those checkpoints will operated 24 hours a day. Checkpoints at those locations was confusing because those roads dead end below the bluffs/hills, allowing no access to the town.
Other new checkpoints will include Bay Club Drive, Porto Marino and Coastline Drive (and Temescal Drive, which is still closed for cement and steel recycling).
Bass also added that there will be increased LAPD deployment, ongoing California Highway Patrols and a private security ramp up.
Palisades residents will still have to show proof of residency at checkpoints. Those passes can be obtained at the Westside Disaster Center through May 31. At that point that center will close and a new location to obtain passes will be announced.
Bass said that security is essential because a problem “we have all over the City is theft of construction tools.”
CalTrans representative Nathan Bass said there will be two lanes in each direction starting tomorrow and the speed limit will be 25 mph. But he warned there will only be “one southbound lane for utility work and debris removal between Malibu and the McLure Tunnel, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.”
No bikes will be allowed on PCH. “We expect there to be traffic,” Nathan Bass said. “Consider alternatives such as the 101 or public transportation.”
Since the January 7, 8 and 9 Palisades Fire, PCH has been closed to tourists and commuters, as large trucks haul away cement, metal and other debris from the fire that destroyed nearly 7,000 homes in Pacific Palisades.
There have been check points, manned by the National Guard at the town’s three entry points, Sunset Boulevard (east and west) and Chautauqua. Only residents and contractors are allowed to enter the small community of 27,000. It is estimated that about 44 percent of all homes in Pacific Palisades are still standing, according to the L.A Times.
Owners of those homes worry that looters may come in or squatters. But others who have moved back in complain that it is nearly impossible to get tradespeople into the area with the long lines that sometimes occur by the checkpoints. Mayor Bass acknowledged both views.
Businesses in Malibu have suffered as tourists have been unable to access that community from PCH and today Governor Gavin Newsom announced that PCH will open with two lanes in each direction starting tomorrow, in time for the Memorial Day Weekend.
“In California, we get stuff done, period. We’re opening the PCH back up early, with more lanes before Angelenos hit the road this Memorial Day,” Newsom said in a May 22 statement. “We are able to do this thanks to the tireless work of hundreds of construction and road crews and with help from our partners at the Army Corps of Engineers.”
In that press release the Mayor said, “The reopening of Pacific Coast Highway marks an important step forward in our recovery effort in the Palisades, which is on track to be the fastest in state history. I thank Governor Newsom, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and partners at all levels of government for their partnership and collaboration as we work around the clock to get families home and businesses reopened. As Pacific Coast Highway reopens, we will continue to protect the safety and security of Palisades neighborhoods through a strict security plan established in coordination with the State.”
Councilmember Traci Park was in City Council Chambers arguing over the proposed City budget. Her senior advisor Jacob Burman ran the meeting and said, “There are going to be some hiccups along the way.” He told Palisades residents to keep reaching out to the office.
STILL IN EFFECT:
- Be aware that repairs will continue even after two lanes in both directions are opened to the public.
- A 25 mile per hour speed limit will remain in effect.
- Due to the volume of traffic expected over the holiday weekend and ongoing construction, drivers should expect delays on PCH. Please allow extra time for travel or find an alternate route to your destination.
- Caltrans and CHP reminds drivers that traffic fines can be doubled in an active work zone.