Caltrans crews continue to work 24/7 on emergency repairs to State Route 78, repairing underground culverts damaged by this winter’s heavy rains. Thankfully, the weather has been cooperating the last couple of weeks, allowing for substantial progress. The eastbound lanes between El Camino Real and College Boulevard are expected to remain closed for another couple of weeks.

Because of the closure, traffic has been impacted on several city streets, particularly along Carlsbad Village Drive, between El Camino Real and College Boulevard.

What Carlsbad is doing

We understand this increase in traffic and congestion is frustrating, and we’re grateful for everyone’s patience and commitment to driving safely.

• While Caltrans crews continue their work, we’ve taken some steps to help ease the congestion as much as we can.
• Our traffic team is working closely with Caltrans and our neighboring cities, meeting at least once a week to coordinate our efforts and keep things moving.
• We’ve synced the timing of our traffic signals with the signals that Caltrans operates at the freeway on and off ramps to help traffic move a little more easily.
• We also adjusted the timing of green lights to help move some of the bypass traffic through more quickly and help alleviate congestion. For instance, to help traffic move through the intersection of Carlsbad Village Drive and College Boulevard, we more than doubled the amount of time the left turn arrow is green, from 20 seconds to 45 seconds.

We’ll still see heavy traffic during the remainder of the closure, even with these improvements, so please remember to stay alert and drive safely.

• Leave extra time to get where you need to go. Remember, speeding is one of the main causes of collisions in Carlsbad.
• Eliminate distractions and put your phone away.
• Look out for and yield to pedestrians.
• Share the road with cyclists. Give them the space they need to ride safely.