High Speed Traffic Continues to Concern PVE Residents

Palos Verdes Estates residents continued to speak out against the high speeds on their neighborhood roads Wednesday at the Traffic Safety Committee’s monthly meeting.

The main thoroughfares to get in, out, and through the city have been subject to a variety of traffic calming measures at the behest of citizens, with Via Del Monte being a particularly major concern.

PVE’s Traffic Safety Committee voted unanimously to make requests to the city council for a stop sign on Via Lopez and Via Martinez, and a right-turn restriction from Via Fernandez onto Via Lopez. The committee also made a request for a stop sign at the Gatos Place and Via Del Monte intersection, an area of particular danger thanks to its low visibility.

“Everyday I always tell my kids to be quiet,” resident Betty Peterson said. “I turn off my AC and radio and roll down my windows so I could actually hear if cars are coming.”

The reason for low visibility was actually due to vegetation blocking the line of sight, which City Engineer Allan Rigg said would be taken care of by the city. 

Citizens overwhelmingly were in favor of the stop sign at the Via Lopez and Via Martinez intersection, but many said in order to decrease speeds on Via Lopez going downhill, that an additional stop sign must be placed at the intersection of Via Zurita (which Via Lopez turns into) and Via Martinez.

“When you have longer uninterrupted portions of street it does seem to carry more of a highway characteristic,” Rigg said.

Stop signs and other more invasive methods to slow traffic on PVE’s streets are about all the city can do currently, due to a combination of a decade old city policy prohibiting speed humps to be put in place as well as the city’s fire department restricting any new traffic calming measures without their approval.

Another hurdle the city faces, particularly with the stop sign at Gatos Place, is that the curvature of Via Del Monte could lead to a blind stop should a sign be put in place.

“In this situation you’re going to have to have advanced notice that there’s a stop sign coming,” Mike Friedman, committee chairperson, said.

Rigg mentioned the possibility of a staggered stop sign with different stopping points on each side of the road, but ultimately the decision to implement a stop sign at all, both at Gatos Place and at the Via Lopez and Via Martinez intersection, is up to the City Council. 

Meanwhile, residents are still concerned for the safety of drivers in the area. 

“Whenever we have guests over, I make sure to tell them to be extra careful pulling out of Gatos Place,” Peterson said. “It’s that dangerous.”