The city of Malibu and Caltrans are making changes to an iconic stretch of Pacific Coast Highway. This video was broadcast on the NBC4 News at 6 a.m. on Dec. 20, 2024.
The city of Malibu and Caltrans are making more changes to an iconic stretch of Pacific Coast Highway. It's also a dangerous section of road, with numerous accidents, including a crash that killed four Pepperdine students last year.
Malibu plans to put up speed cameras and Caltrans is looking at moving parking off the highway.
The Mountain Conservation Recreation Authority opposes those proposed parking changes, telling the city it feels that's just a way to make Malibu more exclusive.
“I was supposed to be with them, I wasn’t because my cheer practice ran late,” said Bridget Thompson, a friend of the Pepperdine students killed in that crash.
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Thompson was best friends with Pepperdine seniors Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha weir and Deslyn Williams.
“I can imagine the songs they were listening to on the way there and I know they were being safe because we were always safe because we knew PCH was not safe and we would always warn each other if cars were coming,” Thompson said.
Last October, all four women were struck and killed on the northbound shoulder of PCH, a stretch known as dead man’s curve because of the high number of crashes that have occurred over the years.
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“They were cautious and it's just heartbreaking because I know they did everything right,” Thompson said.
The deaths of the four Pepperdine seniors has enacted change. The city of Malibu has a plan to put up speed cameras, and now Caltrans is looking to move parking off the highway.
“Caltrans’ plan says let's move that parking lets relocate it to other places where it is safer,” Malibu mayor Doug Stewart said.
The mayor says a planned bike lane and pedestrian access will make parking on the shoulder impossible in most places.
“It’s also to do things like angled back in parking or to change the configuration from one side of the road versus the other,” Stewart said.
The Mountain Recreation Conservation Authority told the city it opposes the plan, arguing that getting rid of parking is just a means to make Malibu more exclusive.
“It’s exactly the opposite. So many people are going to be losing the parking in front of their houses. We are trying to make sure they can keep it,” Stewart said.
Thompson says she’s grateful for the plans to make PCH safer, but would like to see things implemented sooner.
“Change is being slowly made but even since I lost my best friends we’ve had multiple deaths since and its like, why?” Thompson said.
