The City of Malibu will install speed humps in the Point Dume neighborhood of Malibu starting in early August in order to reduce speeding and improve safety in the residential area.
“Speed humps help ensure that drivers follow the laws and speed limits established to keep residents, pedestrians, bicyclists and other motorists safe on our streets,” Mayor Mikke Pierson said. “We have to do everything we can to protect safety in our neighborhoods.”
At the July 13 City Council Meeting, Council received a recommendation from the Public Safety Commission to place speed humps on Dume Drive and on Fernhill Drive between Grayfox Street and Cliffside Drive and directed staff to begin work to install the speed humps.
In November 2019, the Public Safety Commission received a presentation on the Point Dume Traffic Management Plan and, at its January 8, 2020 Meeting, the Commission recommended that the City Council approve the speed humps after reviewing traffic data collected from the existing speed feedback signs in the Point Dume area. The Commission was responding to long-standing complaints from area residents and data from speed feedback signs showing excessive speeding in the neighborhood, particularly around Malibu Elementary School on Fernhill Drive.
The speed feedback signs were installed in 2016 and were one of several traffic safety measures approved by the City Council for Point Dume following community meetings on November 12, 2015 and February 23, 2016 to discuss potential traffic calming strategies to address chronic, excessive speeding in the neighborhood.
On March 14, 2016, the City Council directed staff to install speed humps on Portshead Road, install six radar speed feedback signs throughout Point Dume and Busch Drive, install new edge line striping on Grasswood Avenue and Fernhill Drive and lower speed limits on Bluewater Road, Wildlife Road and Cliffiside Drive from 30 MPH to 25 MPH. All of the traffic calming measures previously approved by Council have been implemented.
While the Public Safety Commission initially recommended the new speed humps in January, the recommendation was not presented to Council for consideration until July due to delays posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding for the project is available in the Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2020-2021 as part of the Annual Street Overlay Project currently under construction.
Currently, the following streets in the Point Dume neighborhood have speed humps: Wildlife Road south from Fernhill Drive, Portshead Road from Pacific Coast Highway to Boniface Drive, Selfridge Drive, Grayfox south from Fernhill Drive, and Zumirez Drive.
The work to install the new speed humps along Dume Drive and Fernhill Drive will require brief lane closures with one lane remaining open and the City will conduct public outreach about the work locations, schedule and traffic impacts.
For specific questions about the construction project and its potential traffic impacts, email mpublicworks@malibucity.org.
For more background on the project, see the staff report from the January 8, 2020 Public Safety Commission meeting: https://www.malibucity.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01082020-1445.
Submitted by Matt Myerhoff, Media Information Officer
