Pacific Coast Highway Safety Projects
To help reach the State of California’s goal of eliminating all traffic-related deaths and serious injuries by 2050, Caltrans is working with state and local partners to increase pedestrian, cyclist, and motorist safety on Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). This multi-faceted approach by state and local government agencies includes roadway improvements and design changes, increased enforcement, and safety education for the traveling public.
This webpage is intended to provide information on current and planned projects on PCH within Caltrans District 7, which includes Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Caltrans will continue to update this page as more projects are added and completed.
Current projects
Long Beach and South Bay (Los Angeles, Lomita, Torrance, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, El Segundo)
- Pavement Rehabilitation, bike lanes, pedestrian access improvements, and bus shelter/bus pads from county line to Redondo Beach.
- Class IV bikeways in Long Beach (in planning phase)
Westside (Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Malibu)
- Speed reduction enhancements and crosswalk upgrades between McClure Tunnel (I-10 terminus) and the Ventura County line
- Pavement upgrades, bike lanes and pedestrian access improvements from Cross Creek Road/Malibu Lagoon to the Ventura County line
- Pavement rehabilitation, bus pad upgrades from McClure Tunnel to Cross Creek Road/Malibu Lagoon
- Drainage improvement, fish passage at Corral Canyon in Malibu
- Trancas Creek Bridge replacement project
Ventura County
Newsroom:
Coming soon.
FAQs
Q: What else is Caltrans working on related to PCH safety?
A: Caltrans is in the process of conducting a traffic safety study for PCH between the cities of Santa Monica and Oxnard. One of the objectives of these studies is to identify opportunities to create or enhance complete streets features, such as protected bike lanes, signage, or protections for pedestrians aimed to improve safety and mobility for all users of the route — especially vulnerable road users such as bicyclists and pedestrians.
The study will also look to incorporate complete streets elements from multiple agencies and planning documents into one document to improve consistency along the corridor across jurisdictions. Motorists must drive safely and responsibly within posted speed limits and laws.
Q: I heard that the state is installing speed cameras in certain cities. Why can’t the state install speed cameras in my city?
A: Assembly Bill 645 is a new state law to install speed cameras on local streets as a pilot program in six California cities. The legislation excluded this pilot on California state routes, freeways and expressways, United States highways, and interstate highways.
Under state law, Caltrans is unable to install speed cameras. A change in law would be needed for cameras to be installed on PCH or any other state highway. Currently, there is a new effort by legislators to allow speed cameras on PCH in Malibu. Caltrans is supportive of ways to reduce speeding and reckless driving on our highways.
Caltrans welcomes all ideas on how to reduce speeds and reckless driving on all of our highways and looks forward to continuing dialogue with residents of all the communities the department serves.
In January 2020, the California State Transportation Agency issued a report on the “AB 2363 Zero Traffic Fatalities Task Force,” which concluded that international and domestic studies show that speed safety systems are an effective countermeasure to speeding that can deliver meaningful safety improvements
Q: What about using the cameras that Caltrans is installing across the state in conjunction with CHP?
A: This is a separate pilot program to assist the California Highway Patrol in reviewing incidents on freeways. These cameras will provide new capabilities, potentially including wrong-way driver detection, rapid traffic incident detection, and the detection of near misses between vehicles and pedestrians or cyclists. As part of the initial phase of the Highway Camera Safety Pilot program, Caltrans will install over 200 cameras across the state.
Q: How can the state stop speeding on PCH?
A: PCH has designated speed limits based upon engineering studies, regulations and road design. Caltrans has implemented several features to further enhance safety, features like warning signs, striping, delineators, flashing beacons, and there is a more comprehensive approach coming.
Furthermore, speed control requires partnership with law enforcement. The Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies and California Highway Patrol officers are doing everything they can and more, but they need everyone’s cooperation to keep all of us safe.
Q: Where can I find crash statistics for PCH?
Please contact the law enforcement agency in charge of traffic enforcement for the portion of the roadway that you are seeking data for.
Safety resources/more info