Western Malibu's PCH Repave Arrived Later and Leaner Than Caltrans First Proposed

When the Malibu Planning Commission approved Caltrans' plan to repave western Pacific Coast Highway in November 2025, LAist reported that construction would start the next spring and finish at the end of 2028. The first crews arrived on October 27, 2026, and Caltrans now lists the work as running through winter 2029/2030.

The road those crews are building is also smaller than Caltrans' original proposal. Before the first lane closure, the city's hearings had already cut the number of new streetlights, shortened the bike lanes and set limits on how any new light may look. The project now underway delivers that negotiated version. It began more than half a year late and shares the coast with older projects that are still unfinished.

The Calendar Slipped Before Any Paving Began

Caltrans' start announcement covers Pacific Coast Highway from Malibu Lagoon to the Ventura County line. Chumo Construction Inc. of Baldwin Park is the contractor, and the estimated cost is $69 million. According to the project page, about 63 lane miles will be rehabilitated once the work is done.

Here is how the schedule compares across the past year:

At approval, the job was expected to take a little under three years. Under the current schedule it runs more than three years, and the finish has moved from late 2028 to the 2029/2030 winter. The project was also on a tight timeline from the beginning. At the November 2025 hearing, a Caltrans spokesperson told LAist the agency needed approval in time to start bidding that month, or the funding could have lapsed.

What the City's Hearings Took Out

Most of the trimming happened between Caltrans' first proposal and the Planning Commission vote. LAist reported that after the commission's previous public hearing, Caltrans and city officials agreed to several changes:

• New streetlights cut from 42 to 27
• New or upgraded bike lanes shortened from 15 miles to 10
• City planning staff assigned to inspect the lights for compliance with Malibu's Dark Sky Ordinance
• Caltrans required to consult first responders and Pepperdine University about a planned sidewalk between John Tyler Road and Malibu Canyon Road

In a Sept. 28 Malibu Times column, Michel Shane wrote that when Caltrans re-ran its proposed lights through its warrant formula, the Zumirez area dropped from ten poles to two.

The commission approved the permit, Coastal Development Permit No. 25-009, by a 4-1 vote. The permit covers the public right-of-way from Serra Road to the Ventura County border. The Malibu Township Council then appealed. It asked for speed limits 5 mph lower, no sidewalks at Pepperdine or Corral Canyon State Beach, green-painted bike lanes, and removal of the lighting near Malibu Seafood and between Zuma View Place and Zumirez Drive, the Santa Monica Daily Press reported.

The City Council denied the appeal 3-1. Mayor Marianne Riggins made the motion to uphold the commission's approval, which allows Caltrans to keep all 27 poles. She explained her reasoning, as reported in the Daily Press:

"I think that the area of Malibu seafood deserves to have some additional lighting in it, and the area near Zumirez, I'm in that area all the time, it's extremely dark."

Councilmember Doug Stewart said the approval gives Caltrans the option to keep those lights but does not require it. Because of that, 27 is the maximum number of new poles on this stretch. Any light that does go up has to meet the council's conditions: Dark Sky compliant, fully shielded, 3,000 kelvin in color temperature, and pointed downward. For anyone used to how dark PCH is around Zuma at night, the new fixtures are designed to light the pavement and not the hillsides.

What Will Change Along the Shoulder

The lights get the most attention, but most of the approved work is at ground level. The Daily Press listed the full approved scope between the Ventura County line and Serra Road:

1. 19 new guardrails and 22 upgraded curb ramps
2. 6,956 linear feet of new sidewalk
3. Three retaining walls and two realigned intersections
4. 9.7 miles of bike lanes, which LAist described as unprotected
5. A law enforcement pullout area and median reconstruction at various locations

Two of the sidewalk segments drew the most debate at the hearings. One is a 1,855-foot sidewalk on the inland side between Malibu Canyon Road and John Tyler Road, along Pepperdine University property. Caltrans kept it on the inland side because that location stays entirely within the state right-of-way and connects to existing sidewalks on both cross streets. Before building permits are issued, Caltrans must get input from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, LA County Fire and Pepperdine. The other is a 2,483-foot sidewalk at Corral Canyon, set at the outer edge of the right-of-way. City staff said this placement leaves vehicle access to the existing beach parking unchanged.

The work schedule is what affects daily trips. Crews work weekdays from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., so the morning drive toward Cross Creek and midday errands fall inside the work window. Evenings and weekends fall outside it. Caltrans also warns that people living and working near the work zones may notice noise, vibration and grinding, and that all dates and times depend on the weather and may change.

Two Bridges on the Same Stretch Are Already Late

The repave is the newest of several projects on the same part of PCH. On Oct. 19, Malibu.FM's Hans Laetz reported that the Corral Creek Bridge, scheduled to finish about a year earlier, was still under construction. The Trancas Creek Bridge, scheduled to finish about three years earlier, was also still under way. The report said the Trancas delay comes from Los Angeles County Waterworks, which has had problems installing a replacement water pipe along the new structure.

The same report described emergency work west of the city. Caltrans was placing boulders under the highway at Deer Creek Road, where the ocean had washed out part of a cliff. It was also adding rock along the large dune at Thornhill Broome Beach near Mugu Rock, after high tides washed into the traffic lanes and the lanes were shifted inland. Those sites are beyond the county line and outside the repave, but they are on the same road for anyone driving PCH toward Oxnard or Camarillo.

The two bridges help explain why the 2029/2030 finish date is uncertain. Corral Creek and Trancas Creek were both smaller, single-site projects, and both ran past their schedules. The repave covers about 63 lane miles, and Caltrans says all of its dates may change.

East of Cross Creek Comes Next

The western project is the first of two. Caltrans' second project covers about 57 lane miles from the McClure Tunnel in Santa Monica to just south of Cross Creek Road. It is budgeted at $85 million and scheduled for construction from late 2027 through 2030. Caltrans puts the total programmed cost of both projects at about $154 million. If both stay on schedule, crews would be working on the western and eastern halves of PCH in Malibu during the same period from late 2027 on.

Last fall, LAist reported that the eastern project will need its own approval from the Planning Commission. In his Malibu Times column, Shane described the conditions it will face. Southern California Edison is moving power lines underground from Las Flores through Carbon Beach, as it already did at La Costa, and the poles that carried the area's limited lighting are coming down. He also wrote that Caltrans' list of safety work for that project includes one lighting item, upgrades to two pedestrian tunnels in Santa Monica and Los Angeles, and none in Malibu. The western hearings ran about a year ahead of the western construction start. Most of the decisions about lighting and sidewalks east of Cross Creek will be made when the eastern permit comes before the city.

Where Closure Information Is Posted

Lane closures will move as the work does. Caltrans posts real-time conditions on QuickMap and also uses changeable message signs and District 7's X and Instagram accounts. The City of Malibu publishes its own traffic advisories. Its Oct. 27 alert grouped the PCH paving with shorter-term work nearby and reminded drivers that fines may be doubled in construction zones.

If you own a home along western PCH and are thinking about how the next few years of construction, and the finished road after it, could affect a sale or purchase, Karen Sandvig can walk you through what is planned near your property and how to account for it in your timing and marketing. Request a Complimentary Home Valuation & Marketing Plan to get started.