Caltrans Tells Canyon: PCH Checkpoints Will be Gone Within Weeks
In a May 14 letter to the Canyon Alliance, Caltrans District 7 Director Gloria Roberts has affirmed that PCH will be opened to the general public by the end of May, after which the Chautauqua/West Channel checkpoint on PCH will be removed, along with the other PCH checkpoints.
Roberts was responding to a March 19 letter and March 21 meeting in which The Canyon Alliance expressed grave safety concerns about the traffic backups into Rustic and Santa Monica Canyons, largely due to the security checkpoint at Chautauqua.
The backups, which continued for several weeks in March, negatively impacted Canyon School and Canyon businesses, causing delays and loss of business, as well as dangerous impasses on narrow Canyon streets. The backups were made worse by increased security measures that not only required passenger vehicles to display a red “Resident” pass, but also, due to incidents of counterfeiting, to stop and show a drivers license that matched the name on the pass. This procedure dramatically slowed the movement of vehicles and increased the length of backups and delays.
At some point in April, in response to community concerns, the National Guard changed its protocol so that officers on duty were only required to conduct spot checks of drivers licenses, allowing officers to wave through multiple vehicles at a time, particularly when backups began to develop on West Channel and Entrada. Reports from Canyon School, businesses, and residents indicated that this change noticeably improved the traffic situation, with less frequent backups and of shorter duration.
In the first two weeks of May, the weather began to warm, beachgoers started to return, and new construction activity in the Palisades picked up. Apparently as a result, some backups have begun to reappear, though not as long or as consistently as in March and April.
When PCH is reopened and the checkpoints are removed, the letter states, “a robust law enforcement presence from state and local agencies [will] remain in place.” This presumably refers to Highway Patrol and LAPD vehicles and officers being assigned to the area, but it is unclear what protocols may be put in place. Caltrans only has jurisdiction over PCH itself, not over adjoining streets. The operation of Los Angeles city streets such as Chautauqua, Entrada, West Channel and Brooktree is determined by the city’s Department of Transportation (LADOT). Any continued closures, restrictions, or local checkpoints on those streets would ultimately be determined by Mayor Bass.
Since the checkpoints were initially imposed to protect fire-impacted properties in the Palisades, the impact of their removal will undoubtedly be scrutinized carefully by Palisades residents. Unlike the Palisades, Altadena has had no comparable checkpoints or controlled access protocols imposed in the aftermath of the Eaton Fire.