Extreme Danger on PCH
February 28th, 2008 
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If you’re one of numerous cyclists who ride PCH out to Malibu, take note that construction contractors have, yet again, created a cycling death trap:
Cyclists are strong advised to stay off of PCH on the northbound ( land side) from the downhill just beyond Malibu Canyon to Puerco Canyon Road. The current absence of shoulder, the placement of k-rails forcing cyclists to suddenly share the road with the fast lane of traffic, the huge road equipment at work, the presence of gravel in the narrow remaining lane creates a nightmare for not only cyclists — but all traffic.
Thanks to Miriam Alpern of the LA Tri Club for the heads up. The forwarded email goes on to explain:
Please understand we know the issues related to how this has been handled and communicated — and that we are presenting these issues to CalTrans.
This is outrageous. For those not in the know, cyclists Scott Bleifer & Stanislave Ionov were killed on PCH in 2005, partly because contractors had forced cyclists to interact with high speed traffic. At the time other cyclists documented a plethora of bad conditions on PCH to Malibu which put cyclists at risk.
In the aftermath CalTrans and other agencies pledged to work with contractors to prevent this from happening again. Specifically CalTrans changed the procedures so that CalTrans must consider the safety of cyclists before issuing a construction permit. I suppose CalTrans decided to relax that policy, since this recent construction has created a horrible situation for cyclists.
It’s time for CalTrans to recognize that “Cyclists have the right to travel safely and free of fear” as it says in the Cyclists’ Bill of Rights.
Join me in emailing your frustration to CalTrans District 7 Deputy of Construction Peter Chan and State Senator Sheila Kuehl at:
Peter.Chan@dot.ca.gov, senator.kuehl@sen.ca.gov
respectively. If you like forward your emails to alexcthompson [at] gmail *dot* com and I’ll run a synopsis next week.
Author Info
Thanks for bringing this into the light. It’s very frustrating to hear personally, as Scott Bleifer was a classmate of mine in high school.
amen to that, biking down PCH is like jumping off a building with no parachute
Will, what I can’t figure is how these lapses keep happening.
Hartwick, it’s like they keep adding floors to the damn building.
Alex, thanks for posting this. It’s frustrating that CalTrans keeps doing the same old thing with no regard for cyclists. It’s clearly going to take a while to change the mindset of transportation agencies so it’s important we all keep each other informed and keep the pressure on.
I recommend you also encourage people to write to Dale Benson who is the CalTrans District 7 bicycle coordinator. I haven’t met him myself, but I’ve heard he responds quickly to cyclists’ concerns and has the support of Doug Failing (district 7 chief). Dale’s email is: Dale.Benson@dot.ca.gov
I wrote Dale a few days ago. He wrote back that they’re aware of the situation and they’re working on it. It didn’t inspire a lot of confidence in CalTrans, plus these situations shouldn’t be arising in the first place.
I’m going to ride out there later this week to see if anything has changed, and if not then take a bunch of photos.
I totally agree with you. I was just trying to offer another address where people can send their complaints.
I thank you again for posting the info about this problem.
Colin,
Thanks for the suggestion. It was/is a great one, people should email him. Sorry, I didn’t mean to suggest that it wasn’t a worthwhile suggestion.
Lates!