After 58 deaths on infamous Pacific Coast Highway, changes are coming. Will they help?
California leaders are planning several safety improvements to the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu after four college students were the latest to be killed in October along the deadly stretch of roadway.
The students, sorority sisters at the nearby Pepperdine University in Southern California, were fatally struck Oct. 17 by a speeding motorist who authorities said appeared to have lost control of his vehicle. The driver, identified as Fraser M. Bohm, 22, was later arrested and charged with four counts of murder in connection with the crash.
The deaths of the four women are now among 58 traffic fatalities that have occurred since 2010 along the 21-mile strip of coastline between the Santa Monica mountains and the Pacific Ocean, said Malibu Mayor Steve Uhring.
The notoriously dangerous roadway is also highly trafficked, attracting an estimated 40,000 daily commuters and 15 million tourists who visit Malibu every summer, Uhring said. Now, the city is joining with state leaders to remedy some of the woes that have long contributed to the 4,000 traffic collisions in the last 10 years, the mayor said.
"It is no surprise that improving safety on this iconic highway has been a top priority for our city,” Uhring said in a statement.
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Caltrans projects focused on reducing speed
Planned projects along the Pacific Coast Highway, which officials announced Monday during a tour, include roadway upgrades, increased enforcement and safety education measures for the public.
The California Department of Transportation, which is known as Caltrans, is in the midst of a traffic safety study to consider additional changes to the PCH in 2024. Malibu's main artery is among the 50,000 miles of state highway and freeway lanes Caltrans manages under the California State Transportation Agency.
“We have heard the call from this heavy-hearted community that more needs to be done ... and we are responding with urgency and intentionality,” Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin said in a statement to USA TODAY. “We can make a difference and create a safer corridor for everyone, no matter how they choose to travel.”
The speed limit on the Pacific Coast Highway is 45 miles per hour, but excessive speeding is rampant and is the most commonly cited violation every year, officials say.
Beginning in January, Caltrans plans to add safety striping and signage providing visual warnings to motorists. That includes 13 electronic signs that will flash warning messages to drivers traveling above the speed limit.
Other components of the roadway project, slated to be completed by April, are:
- The installation of pavement markings at 10 locations where motorists need a visual sign to slow down or stop, such as when the road curves or when they are approaching an intersection;
- Improved lane and crosswalk striping that increases visibility and displays the speed limit on the road’s surface;
- The replacement of speed limit signs and other safety signage and the addition of curve warning signs.
Further projects on the Pacific Coast Highway, including the addition of cycling lanes, could also be completed in 2024 after Caltrans’ completes its safety audit.
The agency is already eyeing resurfacing 63.4 lane miles along the highway and upgrading curb ramps to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards.
Malibu officials begin work on Pacific Coast Highway traffic signals
Meanwhile, Malibu leaders have already begun work this month on a $34.6 million project to install communication lines between the existing traffic signals along the Pacific Coast Highway.
Approved by the city council in 2017, the measure is meant to synchronize the signals, which will allow Caltrans to remotely control them to lower traffic speeds and reduce congestion, Mayor Uhring said.
Once installed within a year, the new equipment will capture real-time traffic data and send it to the traffic signal controllers, which can adjust the traffic signal timing. Vehicles going the speed over the speed limit will encounter red lights, while those going the speed limit will encounter green lights, according to the city.
"Once completed it will make PCH safer for our residents," Uhring said.
Pepperdine students killed while standing near highway
News of the safety measures comes about two months after the four students at Pepperdine University were killed while standing near parked cars alongside the highway.
Investigators have said that Bohm was driving a dark colored BMW westbound on the Pacific Coast Highway when he lost control, slammed into three parked vehicles and crashed into a group of nearby pedestrians. Bohm's attorney told the Associated Press that Bohm had been chased following a road rage incident, which is why he was speeding.
The women, all of whom were seniors at the small private Christian university and sisters in the Alpha Phi sorority, were identified as Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir and Deslyn Williams. Two others were injured in the crash.
Pepperdine has created a website for the community to share condolences, as well as a memorial fund for the women – students in the university’s Seaver College of Liberal Arts – to support their families and to one day establish scholarships in their names.
"This fund is a testament to the love and compassion of our Pepperdine community," the university said in a statement at the time. "It is our collective opportunity to make a meaningful impact for all who are affected by this profound loss."
Contributing: The Associated Press
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]