Calabasas tries asphalt berms as barriers

MICHAEL COONS/The Acorn NUISANCE OR PUBLIC SAFETY DEVICE?-Asphalt berms along Mulholland Highway in Calabasas prevent motorists from crossing over double yellow lines and help provide an added safety barrier between the roadway and pedestrians. Drivers had been ignoring the yellow lines.

The city of Calabasas has installed berms (asphalt barriers) along Mulholland Highway in front of A.C. Stelle Middle School to help keep vehicles from crossing over double yellow lines and striking pedestrians. Contrary to some claims, the berms haven’t narrowed the streets, according to Calabasas City Councilman Barry Groveman.

The city added the berms late last year in conjunction with the opening of the new middle school on Jan. 5.

The devices were very much needed, Groveman said.

"It needs to be understood that the berms do not create a new barrier," Groveman said. "All they do is enforce the barrier that was already there. In other words, they did not narrow the road. They were simply placed on top of the double yellow lines that were already there."

The stretch of Mulholland near the new middle school needed sufficient separation and protection between vehicles and pedestrians. Most of the foot traffic was children walking to and from the A.C. Stelle campus during peak hours, Groveman said.

The only thing that previously protected students from vehicles was a double yellow line, Groveman said. The berms will help stop vehicles from entering pedestrian areas, whether the cars were going there intentionally or by accident, he said. If a vehicle hits the berm, it will be repelled, according to Groveman.

Motorists intentionally crossing over double yellow lines are a major problem in Calabasas, according to Groveman. Deputies gave drivers about 60 traffic violation tickets, many for crossing double yellow lines, during the first few weeks after A.C. Stelle opened. (See related story on page 1.)

Californians and all Americans observed what happens when vehicles are out of control when an elderly motorist at the farmers’ market in Santa Monica ran down several pedestrians last fall, Groveman said. "I want to make sure that we’re not asking questions later about why we didn’t have these berms. These are responsible things to do and the city’s traffic department, traffic engineers, (law enforcement) and fire departments all support these things."

The berms also slow the flow of traffic, Groveman said, but that was also a goal.

"I don’t think it’s too much to ask people to slow down for a half a mile, 20 minutes a day, to preserve the security and the safety of children," Groveman said, "particularity when we have wall-to-wall kids in that area."

—Michael Picarella