Malibu Students, School Staff Face 'Multi-Hour Drives' Due To PCH Closure

MALIBU, CA — Students, parents and school staff are facing what district officials are calling "multi-hour drives" to the city's schools as Pacific Coast Highway remains closed indefinitely due to past and predicted future mudslides.

PCH will be closed between Chautauqua Boulevard in Pacific Palisades to Carbon Beach Terrace in Malibu until officials deem the stretch of road safe for travel. The stretch will be open only to essential workers, city officials said.

The closure comes as last week's rainstorms led to debris flows and another round of rain this week is expected to produce more severe landslides.

"With the PCH closure, the majority of our Malibu staff and our school buses must get to Malibu from the north, making for long commutes and bus rides for students and staff. We appreciate our bus drivers and our staff and teachers who are enduring multi-hour drives to support our students in Malibu. Our students have been well behaved and cooperative on this lengthy, slow drives. We continue to offer vanpools from Santa Monica (long route not PCH) for interested staff," Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District officials wrote in a letter to the community.

Schools in Malibu were open on Monday and officials said they'll continue to keep a close eye on conditions for the rest of the week to determine if it's safe for schools to be open.

The district's criteria for school closures includes when there are fewer than two major roads in and out of Malibu. Two out of these three roads must be open: PCH, Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Malibu Canyon Road.

• Read more: Pacific Coast Highway Closed Indefinitely Due To Mudslides

The storm is expected to arrive Wednesday and continue through Friday and forecasters have a "very high confidence that widespread rain will affect the entire area for about a 36 hour period," according to the National Weather Service.

"People in or near to recent burn areas will need to by hyper vigilant of weather conditions during this time frame," the NWS said.

The NWS predicted a 50% chance that 1 to 2 inches will fall along the coasts and valleys, with 2 to 4 inches in the mountains and foothills.