Agoura Hills Defends Plan That Could Close Kanan Road in Fires
Officials say emergency provisions are in place, but their traffic counts assume no surge of evacuees from Malibu.
Agoura Hills officials are answering questions about their plans to close Kanan Road, under some scenarios, during fires.
As KBUU reported yesterday, the planning commission up there is going to consider a new safety plan for that city, which sits between Malibu and the 101 Freeway at Kanan Road. Buried deep within that plan, it says Agoura Hills will close Kanan Road under some conditions. Just how they would pull that off is not specified.
Some residents of the Santa Monica Mountains north of Malibu say it is proof that Agoura Hills has overdeveloped the area. Hundreds of apartments are under construction next to onramps to the 101 Freeway at Kanan — a vital safety escape from Malibu and the mountains if another Woolsey-type fire occurs.
The city of Agoura Hills yesterday spent some time answering KBUU's questions about its plan. They said they are making provisions for emergency traffic out of Malibu. But their traffic counts do not add in any possible surge in traffic out of Malibu. In fact, Agoura Hills says it does not expect a traffic surge out of the mountains toward the 101.
They estimate only 900 cars per hour would use northbound Kanan in an emergency. 900 cars per hour is the normal flow.
The Agoura Hills emergency plan does not apply any risk data about people fleeing out of Malibu. A city spokeswoman tells KBUU: "It would not be appropriate to apply Malibu's risk data to Agoura Hills' planning purposes."
Residents of the Santa Monica Mountains have been screaming for years about too much residential development along the 101 near Kanan. They tell KBUU they plan to oppose the Agoura Hills emergency plan before the Agoura Hills planning commission.
The meeting is Thursday night at 6 at the Agoura Hills City Hall.