Motorists love it for its rugged cliffs and stunning coastal vistas, but this Southern California highway is also a critical evacuation route for thousands of Palos Verdes Peninsula residents — not to mention a key artery for commuters and emergency vehicles.
Yet maintaining scenic Palos Verdes Drive South has become an increasingly costly, and practically constant, endeavor as the forces behind a relentless landslide continue to crack, shift and warp the two-lane roadway.
Now, Rancho Palos Verdes officials are contemplating a highly controversial move to help offset the tortured thoroughfare’s upkeep: turning Palos Verdes Drive South into a toll road.
Every day, an estimated 15,000 vehicles travel the road, with many motorists commuting to work or school or simply accessing their homes, according to the city. The roadway spans almost all of the city’s coveted coastline and provides the only access to Trump National Golf Club and the Terranea Resort.
“You have to think about the impact it would have on people that have to go that way,” Rancho Palos Verdes Councilmember Barbara Ferraro said at a February council meeting.
Jason Torres, a manager at the Great American International Seafood Market, just north of Palos Verdes Drive South, worries a toll would not only complicate his daily commute to work, but negatively affect business at the family-owned shop.
Last fall, repair work along the road caused several stops and slowdowns, which took a bite out of customer traffic, Torres said.
“We took a hit because people didn’t want to drive it,” he said. “I couldn’t imagine if it turns into a toll road.”
It typically takes Torres 15 minutes to drive to work along Palos Verdes Drive South, but he said a toll would make him consider using a longer route on Hawthorne Drive, which takes about 35 minutes.
“I would probably go around,” said Torres, who lives about nine miles away in San Pedro. He said he understands why the city wants a toll, but worries his customers — many who also come from San Pedro — wouldn’t go through the hassle at all.
“I would like to think we’re that great, but it’s a long drive,” he said.
Just last year, the city spent more than $2 million to repair and maintain the one-mile stretch of road where land movement has been relentless. The section was closed to bicycles and motorcycles last summer due to safety concerns, a decision that was just extended through at least May.
Although officials are hopeful damage could ease if land movement continues to slow — as geologists have reported in recent months — the road repairs are only one in a long list of budget concerns for the small city battling one of the nation’s most active landslides.
As costs mount — and with no end in sight — the city has decided to study the feasibility of creating a toll road.
“There’s been enough conversation [about a toll]. … We need to flesh out what the pros and cons of that would be,” Mayor David Bradley said at last month’s City Council meeting. “Is if financially viable, or are we just making some vendor rich without really helping the city?”
City staff are working to hire consultants to assess the likely impacts on traffic, as well as potential costs, revenue and legal issues, according to City Manager Ara Mihranian. He anticipates a final report to be ready for a public and City Council review this summer.
Right now, though, the idea is still in its “very early stages,” Mihranian said. It hasn’t come up for a formal vote.
The slow-moving Portuguese Bend landslide has been affecting Palos Verdes Drive South for decades — so much so that the road features signs that warn drivers to “Use Extreme Caution, constant land movement next 0.8 miles.” But the damage became much more dramatic last year.
In early 2024, following two years of wet winters, land movement began to aggressively accelerate and extend into areas that had not seen prior movement. The land shifted as much as 12 inches a week in some spots — forcing the historic Wayfarers Chapel to move; causing widespread utility shutoffs; damaging dozens of homes, roadways and infrastructure; and transforming the coastline in new ways.
In October, federal officials announced plans to finance a buyout program for homeowners hit hardest by the landslides, a process that remains underway.
But city officials have been reporting significant improvements across the landslide complex since late fall, which they attribute to mitigation and winterization projects. Those measures include the installation of several deep de-watering wells that continue to pump out more than 540 gallons of groundwater per minute, according to the city’s latest report. The sliding of land has been tied to increases in groundwater.
Given the ongoing issues, lifelong Rancho Palos Verdes resident Eva Albuja — who lives in the landslide zone — said adding tolls to the road seems like a no-brainer. She wishes officials had considered it earlier.
“We need to be more proactive in our revenue sources. We really need it,” Albuja said. “The whole goal is to keep that road running effectively and safely.”
She worries the road is not safe, and points to a major bump — known as the dreaded “ski jump” by locals — where she said a truck recently got stuck. She worries what would happen if an emergency evacuation were ordered. Many residents in the area have horses or are elderly, she said.
“There’s a lot of safety issues that are not being addressed. … Everybody enjoys that road, everybody enjoys the trails. … It’s now time to put forth that money to help save it,” Albuja said.
She knows a toll wouldn’t be a fix-all, but she thinks it would help. City officials this fiscal year have already allocated $35 million for landslide mitigation — about the same amount as its yearly general fund budget. The city has struggled to secure outside assistance for the ongoing emergency, though L.A. County did just approve a $2-million reimbursement from its flood control district for measures preparing for the rainy season.
But the idea of a toll appears much less popular among those who live beyond the landslide zone yet rely on the road to drop off kids at school, get to work or reach the grocery store. Across social media over the last few weeks, residents have lamented about how a toll could increase traffic elsewhere on the peninsula, would exacerbate an already slow drive and further add to their expenses.
If it came to pass, Palos Verdes Drive South would be fairly unique in California as an oceanside drive that requires payment to access. Although toll roads have dramatically expanded across the state in recent years, the majority are on busy freeways or interstates, according to the Transportation Corridor Agencies, which operates Orange County’s toll roads.
Despite improvements in the Portuguese Bend area, the affected stretch of Palos Verdes Drive South remains a major point of land movement, shifting up to 4 inches a week in certain areas, according to the city’s latest report.
“Recent roadway experience indicates the roadbed of [Palos Verdes Drive South] will show evidence of emerging cracks, bumps, fissures, and potholes sometimes forming almost overnight,” the report said.
Still, Mihranian said the pace of needed repairs has slightly decreased, and now occurs every four to six weeks, down from multiple times a month last year. Before the major acceleration in 2024, repairs were happening on the road about every four months, he said.
The landslide area, known as the Greater Portuguese Bend Landslide Complex or the Ancient Altamira Landslide Complex, remains under a local emergency since October 2023. Even during the height of the movement, city officials vowed to do all they could to keep Palos Verdes Drive South open, given its importance to public safety and its ties to a major county sewer line that runs alongside it.
In the meantime, word is spreading rapidly about the proposal. At a council meeting Tuesday, Bradley said several residents had already written him saying they were concerned the change had already been approved.
“All we are doing is trying to study options for potential revenue sources — we are a long way from ever implementing a toll road,” the mayor said.
