The City of Carlsbad advanced several key efforts this week to help address the local traffic safety emergency, which was originally proclaimed in August following a dramatic increase in collisions involving bikes and e-bikes. The City Council also voted to extend the emergency another 60 days so quick progress can continue to be made on the three main areas of focus: education, engineering and enforcement.

Traffic safety emergency

• On Tuesday, Dec. 6, the City Council voted to extend the local traffic safety emergency after they received an update on the city’s recent efforts.
• By law, the City Council must review a local emergency proclamation at least every 60 days and take action either to extend it or end it.
• Cities can proclaim a local emergency when “conditions of extreme peril threaten public safety.” The emergency proclamation allows cities to respond more quickly by freeing up resources and streamlining certain processes.

As part of the presentation to City Council Tuesday, city staff provided an update on what’s been accomplished in the first 100 days of the emergency proclamation. 

Restriping major east/west streets

In September, the City Council approved more than a dozen new initiatives in response to the traffic safety emergency, including projects to repave and restripe several busy streets throughout the city, including these major east-west corridors:

• Carlsbad Village Drive
• Tamarack Avenue
• Cannon Road
• Poinsettia Lane
• La Costa Avenue

On Monday, the city’s Traffic & Mobility Commission reviewed and provided comments on the striping plans for the first phase of this effort.

Restriping roads is a quick and inexpensive way to better meet the needs of walkers, cyclists and drivers, while promoting safe behaviors.

• For example, making vehicle lanes narrower causes drivers to slow down. On some roads this means reducing the number of vehicle lanes from two to one.
• Widening bike lanes and adding buffers between cars and bikes where possible, makes riders feel more comfortable on our roads.
• Green paint is a way to call attention to areas of potential conflict between cars and bikes.

Watch a quick video that shows how restriping works.

City staff will finalize project plans for these east-west streets and return to the Traffic & Mobility Commission in January 2023, followed by the City Council for final approval.

Kelly Elementary School neighborhood

The Traffic & Mobility Commission also voted Monday to support staff’s recommendations to redesign parts of Kelly and Park drives.

• The project is designed to slow traffic and promote safer behaviors among all road users around this neighborhood
• Of the options presented, the Traffic & Mobility Commission recommended designs that include two new roundabouts, a buffered bike lane and multiuse trail along the lagoon

Reducing speeding on Tamarack Avenue

A short-term plan to reduce speeding along Tamarack Avenue, between Skyline Road and Adams Street, is also moving forward following Monday’s Traffic & Mobility Commission meeting.

• The project would add speed cushions and a raised crosswalks to this segment of Tamarack to slow down traffic while the city works on a more extensive redesign of Tamarack that will take longer to complete.
• It will go to the City Council for final approval in early 2023.

More information

Dec. 5, 2022 Traffic & Mobility Commission meeting agenda packet
Safer Streets Together initiative
Safer Streets Plan