Caltrans Begins Work to Protect PCH from Advancing Ocean Tides

PACIFIC PALISADES, CA - Construction crews have begun work to protect a key section of Pacific Coast Highway west of Los Angeles from advancing ocean tides.

Parking and the center left turn lane have been eliminated, and the lanes moved back from the ocean, on a short segment of PCH between the Mastro's Beach Club restaurant and the signal at Coastline Drive, near the Getty Villa Museum.

Caltrans spokesman Patrick Chandler said a contractor will install a rock revetment along the beach.

This winter's repeated storms blowing in from the west have caused sand to wash away from the beach. The popular swimming area, with its free parking on PCH, is now a barren strip of rocks and cobbles.

This year's highest tides have eaten away at the dirt embankment that support the highway. A 12-foot-high dirt cliff now separates the curb from the surf.

About 3/4 mile to the west, work is nearly finished on a similar rock structure at La Tuna beach. There, a wall of rocks has been trucked in and placed to diffuse ocean waves before they hit the dirt shore.

--City News Service, photo via Shutterstock