The City Council voted during the May 8, 2017 Council meeting to move forward with the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) Signal System Improvements Project, marking a major step in realizing the top priority project of the City’s PCH Safety Study.
“Ensuring safety on PCH is a primary concern for the City because it impacts every resident of Malibu every day,” said Mayor Skylar Peak. “Getting our traffic signals synchronized and modernized will help us keep our families safe and keep traffic flowing on PCH so people can get where they need to go.”
The Council voted to authorize the City Manager to execute a contract for the design of the project, which was rated as the top priority project in the 2015 PCH Safety Study. The project aims to improve traffic safety, congestion and traffic flow along an eight-mile stretch of PCH from Topanga Canyon to John Tyler Drive that has 12 traffic signals.
The PCH Safety Study was done in collaboration with the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), examining road conditions, accident patterns, and traffic conflicts on PCH in Malibu and providing recommendations to improve safety for motorists, cyclists, transit riders and pedestrians.
The Signal System Improvements Project will consist of new communication links, adaptive signal control systems, changeable message signs, closed-circuit television cameras, traffic loops and mid-block sensors that will enable Caltrans to monitor traffic flow and speed and remotely adjust signal timing in the moment.
Additional improvements include relocation of traffic signal poles, signal phasing, pedestrian countdown signals, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance upgrades, overhead warning signs, striping and stormwater conveyance work.
Funding comes from County Measure R transportation funds, the half-cent sales tax that Los Angeles County voters approved in 2008 and extended in 2016 with Measure M. The City Council, L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors authorized a total of $13.7 million of Measure R funds to be allocated for the Traffic Signal System Improvements Project last year. L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Keuhl directed $10 million of her Measure R funding to assist Malibu. The City provided $3.7 million of its Measure R funds.
The City Manager was authorized to negotiate and execute a contract for up to $1.7 million for the traffic engineering design services for the project, and a contract for up to $100,000 with Caltrans for quality assurance and oversight services of project administration documents. 
