Canyon Residents Voice Concerns Over California Incline Closure

By ALEXANDRIA BORDAS | Reporter

Concerned community members banded together during the monthly Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association (SMCCA) meeting to address the California Incline closure, which began on Monday, April 20.

In the Rustic Canyon meeting room on the evening of Tuesday, April 14, SMCCA board member George Wolfberg and Norman Kulla, Senior Counsel for Councilmember Mike Bonin, answered questions for nearly an hour about predicted traffic congestion throughout the canyons due to the Incline closure.

SMCCA members voiced apprehension about one point specifically: traffic from the closure being re-routed through the winding and narrow streets of the Santa Monica Canyon.

Kulla diplomatically said he couldn’t critique the efforts of the City of Santa Monica in preparing the affected communities for the closure.

“We will just have to see how it goes at this point because it is happening, and soon,” Kulla said. “I would like to thank this committee (SMCCA) for constantly communicating their concerns so we could appropriately address each one.”

Board member Dan Seaver raised concerns regarding an increase in foot traffic that could arise in response to vehicle traffic.

“There are going to be a lot of frustrated people driving very fast through the canyons, gunning it because they will be free from the traffic. Now I am worried about people crossing to get to the ocean,” Seaver said.

Kulla responded that the City of Santa Monica has agreed to pay for Traffic Control Officers (TCOs) during critical times when children are crossing to Canyon Elementary School, which coincides with high traffic times.

In addition, Kulla said that TCOs have been requested for busy summer weekends.

“Santa Monica was agreeable to that so it is pending, it just has to go through the bureaucratic process,” he said.

Ultimately, Kulla said he is looking forward to the Incline being removed and restored.

Kulla also updated members on the CIRS, or Coastal Interceptor Relief Sewer, construction project.

“We are doing everything we can to try not to have them [Department of Public Works] extend this project any further. But the bad news is that they want another two weeks beyond June 30, which has already been extended,” Kulla said.

Audible groans could be heard throughout the room in response to the CIRS update as board members noted the construction may now extend into the Fourth of July weekend.

According to Kulla, reasons for the delays could be stemming from a portion of PCH that has shifted and needs repair.

“The project heads are in the process of rebuilding the road on the far right side of PCH proceeding to Santa Monica, or the beach side,” Kulla said. “They have to rebuild a portion of PCH that has dropped.”

Kulla said they aren’t sure what caused the damage, adding that “we work by the motto of ‘you touch it, you break it, you own it’. So now it’s our problem.”

The annual SMCCA meeting will be on Tuesday, May 12 at 6 p.m. Elections will be taking place to fill five seats on the SMCCA board.