The Malibu City Council approved an additional $1.6 million in funding for enhanced safety measures along Pacific Coast Highway, including innovative speed detection technology and infrastructure for enforcement cameras.
The unanimous approval increases the Public Works Director's authority to approve change orders for the ongoing PCH Signal Synchronization System Improvements Project, bringing the total construction contract to $14.6 million.
The additional funding will support two key safety initiatives designed to address what officials describe as increasingly hazardous conditions on the coastal highway.
The first system represents what Public Works Director Rob DuBoux called "a very innovative product" developed in collaboration with Caltrans.
"It's a system that's going to detect when speeding is on PCH and will adapt signal timing to have more red lights and slow traffic down," DuBoux explained during the council meeting. The system will include additional cameras, detection loops, updated signal timing equipment and specialized programming.
The second component addresses infrastructure needs for a five-location speed enforcement camera system. The funding will cover new signal poles and power connections required for the enforcement cameras, work that DuBoux said can be efficiently integrated with the existing project.
"Getting the poles is a very long and drawn-out process," DuBoux noted, explaining that using the current contractor allows the city to meet project deadlines scheduled for early next year.
The safety enhancements are part of a larger $19.3 million signal synchronization project that spans PCH from Topanga Canyon Road to John Tyler Drive. The broader project, identified in a 2015 PCH Safety Study, aims to reduce traffic congestion and improve safety by connecting existing traffic signals and enabling remote operation by Caltrans.
The synchronization system captures real-time traffic data and automatically adjusts signal timing to match actual traffic conditions, potentially reducing response times for manual adjustments and supporting emergency evacuations.
Construction of the primary synchronization components has been completed, but city officials determined additional safety measures were necessary given ongoing concerns about PCH conditions.
The project receives funding from Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Measure R ($17.6 million) and Measure M ($1.5 million) allocations, with an additional $246,000 in potential federal reimbursement for damages from the Palisades Fire.
Council member Bruce Silverstein, while voting to approve the funding, raised broader concerns about the change order process in municipal contracting. He noted that significant change orders can be approved through staff negotiations with contractors, while initial contracts require public bidding.
"Change orders can sometimes run up as much as the initial contract," Silverstein said, describing the system as "problematic" because it could allow contractors to deliberately underbid initially, knowing profitable change orders may follow.
DuBoux responded that the city typically allocates 15-20% of original contract costs for contingencies and "very rarely" requests council approval to exceed those limits. He emphasized that staff strictly negotiates all change orders to ensure favorable terms for the city.
"We take this very seriously, we look at it and we make sure that the city is getting a very good bargain for these change conditions that come up," DuBoux said.
This marks only the second time DuBoux has requested council approval to increase change order authority beyond standard contingency levels, with the previous instance involving a Broad Beach grant project.
The council had previously approved $1.3 million in change orders in September 2024 for modifications including a protected left turn at John Tyler Drive, pedestrian signal upgrades at Las Flores Canyon Road, and utility realignment at Big Rock Drive.
The enhanced safety systems represent Malibu's latest effort to address traffic safety concerns on the accident-prone coastal highway, which serves as both a major commuter route and popular destination for beachgoers and tourists.