PCH closure continues to snarl traffic for commuters on 101 Freeway, with no reopening date in sight
CALABASAS, Calif. (KABC) -- In the aftermath of the Palisades Fire, the ongoing closure of Pacific Coast Highway between Malibu and Pacific Palisades has caused a traffic nightmare for commuters forced to use the 101 Freeway as an alternative route.
January's devastating wildfires may be out, but tempers are still flaring.
"It's just been such a nightmare for people," said one driver, referring to the gridlock.
"It's screwing up, kind of, everything," said another.
Their frustration: traffic. The cause: the closure of PCH. What used to be thru traffic on the PCH is now slow traffic on the 101.
The nearly 10-mile stretch of Pacific Coast Highway from Carbon Beach Terrace to Chautauqua Boulevard is open only to work crews, buses and people who live there.
"A lot of them are defaulting to the Ventura Freeway, US 101, because it's the next essentially parallel freeway to the north," Caltrans spokesman Marc Bishoff said in an interview.
Caltrans counted 47,750 vehicles per day passing through the closed portion of PCH before the shutdown.
"The 101 always has a backup," Calabasas resident Shannon Tate told ABC7. "This is double, triple the backup."
A data review by ABC7 uncovered how bad the backup actually is.
The stretch of the 101 Freeway from Topanga Canyon Boulevard to the 405 Freeway should take 7-8 minutes with no traffic congestion. During the morning commute, before the Palisades Fire, drivers in October spent about 22 minutes traversing that route. Now, with PCH closed, Caltrans data showed that commute times more than doubled in February -- to about 50 minutes.
The PCH itself is in good shape. According to Caltrans, the coastal route is closed not for repairs but due to the amount of work going on around it. Utility crews are restoring power, gas and water.
The Army Corps of Engineers is carrying hundreds of truckloads full of hazardous waste out from the burn area and on to the PCH, Bishoff said, and allowing commuters back onto the thoroughfare would slow down the waste removal process.
What most drivers want to know is: When is PCH going to reopen? As of this week, that is a question Caltrans can't answer.
"I cannot give you an estimate," Bishoff said. "We're very sensitive to the impact it has on the community. But our primary priority -- our No. 1 priority -- is always safety."
Meanwhile, ABC7 has learned that 11 agencies -- at the local, state and federal levels -- will have to give their approval before PCH can be reopened.
