New Morning View Parking Measures Appear to Work

• Everyone Is Cautiously Optimistic

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

After months of discussion between the City of Malibu and school district representatives, consultants, parents, students and Malibu Park area residents, parking changes have been put into place in front of Malibu High School on Morning View Drive in an effort to improve traffic flow and safety.
Students and parents had advance warning in the form of a joint notice issued from the city and the school explaining the changes, which was sent home with students and also placed on the front windshields of street-parked cars.
The changes, which went into effect the week of May 18, include a ban on street parking on a 250-foot area in front of the school auditorium during peak drop-off and pick-up hours of 7 to 8:30 a.m. Monday through Friday, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and Noon-1:30 p.m. on Fridays. The restricted times will only be in effect while school is in session.
An additional 13 parking spaces have been allocated on campus to accommodate students displaced by the change. A new crosswalk is also part of the plan, and the city has arranged for additional crossing guard services.
“It’s still kind of new,” MHS Assistant Principal Phil Wenker told the Malibu Surfside News. “Students are still getting used to the new crosswalk.” Wenker added that the plan seemed so far to be working and that students, parents and residents were cooperating with the change.
Malibu Park residents are expressing cautious optimism that the new measures will help. “It’ll always be chaos in the afternoons,” one neighbor told The News, “we all know that, but at least it may be a more orderly chaos, safer for everyone, and that’s a start.”