By Nicholas Julian
Staff Writer
Left, right, gas … brakes! The agony of the eight-mile stretch from Calabasas to Malibu may seem like a flashback from the Disneyland Matterhorn, but for many students, it is just a daily commute.
Along with being a lifeline to the Malibu community, Malibu Canyon is the daily way of passage for hundreds Pepperdine students and employees of the beach-side city.
And the commute will not get any faster. In fact, it may be bogged down with more tourists.
Malibu Canyon was declared a state scenic highway Oct. 10, creating a safe-zone for the future of the road. With this change to the status of the road, daily commuters may notice a few small changes. New blue street signs and illustrated intersection captions will most likely be installed by the end of the year.
While the new signs are being installed, the land hold around the road will be put into full effect. Now, the area that the road winds its way through will be protected from billboards, excessive grading of nearby property and high-density development.
The Los Angeles County supervisors have been trying to get county-established scenic highway status since 1975, and now that Assemblymember Fran Pavley was able to prove her point to her Sacramento colleagues with a simple photo, the title has been approved.
The greatest factor for the vote was that it had such close vicinity to downtown Los Angeles. Voting officials could not believe that such a road existed in Los Angeles today, which made it easy for Pavley to get the required votes she needed.
The rugged terrain and ancient rock formations along the drive have not only remained current throughout the test of time, but they have also been a backdrop of many early California settlers. The formations have known presence dating to the original De Anza expedition of Spanish colonists.
Not including today’s annual tally of 5 million commuters, the canyon has had its share of high traffic figures. From the Chumash Indians traversing by foot to today’s CEOs crossing by Mercedes, Malibu Canyon has hosted a slew of commuters throughout the years. It has been a major thoroughfare for centuries, and now it is guaranteed to last for many more.
“It’s a good idea,” junior Renee Ramirez said. “Where I’m from there are actually trees and natural beauty that surrounds the streets, not just buildings and new homes.”
The preservation of the scenic roadway was obviously the reason for approval of the scenic status, but what, if any, are the problems with this?
“The most obvious problem would be that the roadway could not be expanded or enlarged to allow for higher levels of traffic,” said one Calabasas resident who commutes to Malibu daily. “There will always be traffic, and this does nothing to ease it. In fact, it adds to the problem.”
Population will increase over time, and this would make it so that the road, which many residents take to work, will be restricted in the future because of overcrowding.
Despite the complications of the process of becoming a scenic highway, Malibu Canyon had to prove that it was worthy of this status. According to Caltrans, the major requirement of qualification for scenic status is that the route must show a unique and naturally inhabited environment, which may include man-made agriculture and waterways. Malibu Canyon met this and other standards to become a scenic highway in October.
November 14, 2002
