One lane reopened on PCH in Malibu after downed pole causes closures

One lane has reopened in both directions on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu after a downed power pole caused the highway to shut down for almost six hours, snarling traffic for miles, authorities said Saturday.

A utility pole snapped and dangled over the highway, forcing the closure of a six-mile stretch about 10 a.m., said Southern California Edison spokeswoman Susan Cox said. The road was shut down between Latigo Canyon Road and John Tyler Drive as crews worked on the repairs.

The lane was reopened to traffic about 3:30 p.m., officials said.

The closure caused traffic backups to Kanan Dume Road on the westbound side and to the Malibu Pier on the eastbound side, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Michael Williams said.

Officials advised travelers to avoid the area for the next few hours.

The PCH is known for congestion, particularly on sunny weekends when motorists head to the beach. Williams said Saturday that traffic was hardly moving.

“With this impact in both directions, it is going to be much worse” than normal, he said. “Expect extreme delays and highlight ‘extreme.’”

Initially, about 976 homes and businesses were without power, Cox said. Southern California Edison was able to restore power to most of the customers affected, but about 19 customers remained without power as of 3 p.m., according to the Southern California Edison outage map.

Twitter: @LATangel