PACIFIC PALISADES >> Pacific Coast Highway, off-limits to all but mostly residents, first responders and cleanup crews since the Jan. 7 Palisades fire, reopened on Friday to all traffic.

The action, on a foggy Friday, was a milestone moment in an area in the march toward recovering from the mammoth blaze, which in the coastal area destroyed nearly 7,000 structures and left 12 dead.

It was a moment that did not get past Pacific Palisades resident Sally Jenne, who on Friday morning was walking her dog along the Strand, the pedestrian path (Marvin Braude Beach Trail) between the beach and the PCH, near the intersection of West Channel Road.

“It’s an important business thoroughfare for those people up in Malibu,” she said of the famous highway.

While she and her neighbors noted that the re-opening will likely attract some curious voyeurs, who will want to tour the damage the Palisades fire wrought in and around Malibu, local residents on the Pacific Palisades-Santa Monica side border were mostly excited to see the Pacific Coast Highway opened again.

It wasn’t all coast totally clear, though.

With checkpoints still in place, traffic was backed up for half a mile along West Channel Road and Entrada Drive, which descend along Santa Monica Canyon to the PCH. Access to Pacific Palisades was still being limited to residents and workers, so the hairpin turn onto Chautauqua Boulevard saw — and will continue to see — slow progress.

On the PCH, however, public works trucks were removing rows of cones in order to reopen lanes, and the cars were passing through on their way up the coast for the first time in more than four months since the fire and subsequent response shut down the highway.

“I’m kind of emotional to see it starting to flow here again on PCH,” said Brooke Ely Danielson, a Pacific Palisades resident who grew up here, and whose family’s house narrowly missed destruction during the fire.“Local businesses have been hurting,” she said. “Maybe this is bringing soul and life back. I feel like it’s progress toward this rebuild.”

For months, the stretch of highway from Santa Monica to Malibu had been basically narrowed to one lane in each direction, for mostly work trucks, local business employees, residents and law enforcement.

That brought a layer of security that grew on many.

Like others, Danielson said the increased police and National Guard presence has been a welcome addition to life in the area.

“It’s nice to see that there’s been some organization and protection,” she said.

Judi Jensen, who has lived in the area since 1971, has been very pleased to see the additional police presence, in part because she said some homeless people have made it unsafe in and around her area, especially down by the beach.

“Maybe it’s just the feeling that, when they were here, the place was safer and it was more under control,” she said of security personnel.

“They’ve had people coming into our neighborhood who definitely don’t live here,” Jensen said. “It’s good to have the checkpoints here. They’re good people.”

But overall, she and her neighbors were in favor of having PCH fully open again.

“Pretty much everyone around, where I live, thinks the highway should be open,” she said. “Period. We don’t mind the check points. We think they have to keep people away from certain parts, but the highway should be open.”

“The thing that we don’t like is that we have all this horrible traffic again,” she said, pointing out that people will be driving out this way for a voyeuristic opportunity to see the damage firsthand.

“They’re all gonna go up and see how it looks in Malibu,” she said. “And I can’t even explain how it looks. It’s devastating.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom had previously announced that the roadway between Malibu and Santa Monica would be reopened by the end of May. On Thursday, Newsom hailed the planned Friday reopening as a major step forward in the fire-recovery effort.

Motorists on the highway are likely to still encounter a heavy security presence as authorities continue to restrict access into the Palisades Fire burn area.

Mayor Karen Bass has instructed the Los Angeles Police Department to step up deployment of officers in the area, including staffing checkpoints around the clock. According to the mayor’s office, the number of checkpoints in the fire area will increase from five to 16 to restrict Palisades access to residents, business owners, employees and contractors.

A 25 mph speed limit will also remain in effect on PCH.

“The reopening of Pacific Coast Highway marks an important step forward in our recovery effort in the Palisades, which is on track to be the fastest in state history,” Bass said in a statement. “I thank Governor Newsom, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and partners at all levels of government for their partnership and collaboration as we work around the clock to get families home and businesses reopened.”