It’s Not Just You — School Traffic Really is Worse In Calabasas

CALABASAS, CA — Back-to-school traffic around Calabasas High School has garnered complaints from the community as the city tries to figure out the source and find a solution, according to Mayor James Bozajian's letter to the community Friday.

The first few weeks of school across Los Angeles have proven difficult. COVID-19 outbreaks, questions about testing and vaccine mandates and employee shortages dominate board meetings and household conversations. Calabasas schools are facing these new problems as well as an age-old one: traffic.

The traffic, Councilmember Alicia Weintraub said, is worse than usual this year in Calabasas. The area has always been dense, as five schools sit on a relatively small stretch of Mulholland Highway: Viewpoint School, Calabasas High School, Alice C. Stelle Middle School, Louisville High School and Chaparral Elementary School.

Los Virgenes Unified School District Superintendent Dan Stepenosky said there are many factors contributing to the traffic. Firstly, many students aren't carpooling to school anymore to minimize the risk of spreading COVID-19, meaning there are more cars on the road. There has also been construction — adding a sidewalk just outside of Calabasas High School — which has narrowed lanes. The closure of a lane on Mullholland Highway has brought the road down to one lane heading into the schools, further congesting the area. The city's construction on Mulholland Highway is expected to continue through February 2022.

The result has been gridlock at pickup and drop-off every day at Mulholland Drive and Valmar Road, such that an emergency vehicle couldn't even get through, Weintraub said.

Stepenosky also believes the problem is exacerbated because this is the schools' first full density semester in almost two years. Some young drivers have never driven to campus and don't know the areas well. That makes the traffic seem worse compared to the relatively low traffic throughout the pandemic.

"The good news is, coming out of a pandemic, some of the old problems are coming back. We're worried about all the safety measures for the pandemic, but when you have traffic problems, again, it's awesome," Steponosky said. He added: "The other part of this is: people aren't used to traffic, we didn't have it for 20 months. So now it's back. It feels worse than ever."

Calabasas resident Laura Solano, whose kids go to AC Stelle and Louisville, said the traffic has been frustrating and difficult to get around. Both her kids have been late to school multiple days, even though they are leaving the house 20 minutes early. Solano's daughter drives herself to school, which makes her really nervous given the insane driving Solano said she has observed.

LVUSD will be working with the City of Calabasas and Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department to solve the problem, Bozajian said in his letter. The school board will also be working with a traffic consultant, Kittelson & Associates, who has done work in Malibu in the past. Weintraub said she expects another meeting to be held on the issue in the next two weeks.

"We’re gonna get real creative throw a whole bunch of ideas on the table ... I think we can definitely improve it," Steponosky said.