On Tuesday, the City Council directed staff to move forward with the environmental review, permitting and design of a roundabout at the intersection of Carlsbad Boulevard and Tamarack Avenue with a caveat.

Before giving the final go ahead, the City Council asked staff to return with more information about how another coastal roundabout is performing.

• Roundabouts are becoming more common in coastal cities because they are effective in slowing down traffic and have other additional safety features important at busy intersections.
• The City of Carlsbad has one roundabout at State Street and Carlsbad Boulevard and another planned for Cannon and Carlsbad Boulevard.
• The City Council asked to see data on how the Cannon Road roundabout performs before authorizing construction of a roundabout at Tamarack.
• As with any project along the coast, changes in road design require a lengthy process of review and permitting from the state. Because of this, a roundabout at Tamarack wouldn’t be ready to build for a couple of years.
• This will give the city time to finish the Cannon project, which is further along in the design and permitting pipeline.
• City staff will gather data for three months after the Cannon project is completed and return to the City Council for additional discussion and direction on how to proceed with Tamarack.

Why managing speeds is important
In the city’s continued traffic safety emergency, minding your speed is one of the best ways you can improve the safety of our roadways.

Not only is speeding a top cause of severe injury and fatal collisions here in Carlsbad, it’s a problem nationwide. According to a recent report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, traffic deaths related to speeding are at a 14-year high, with speeding listed as a factor in about one-third of all traffic deaths. 

In areas with lots of pedestrians, like along our coast, in the Village and around schools, slowing down is especially critical. Here’s a graphic that shows what a difference even 10 mph can make:

Carlsbad Boulevard and Tamarack Avenue improvements
To improve this intersection, staff have sought input from the public, completed technical studies and reviewed traffic data to develop designs that work better and support the City Council policies related to traffic safety, mobility and environmental sustainability.

The roundabout option provides additional safety features at the intersection, including:

• Managing speeding, which significantly reduces all types of injury collisions
• Reducing traffic congestion by keeping traffic flowing through the intersection
• Creating more parking
• Widening the sidewalk along the east side of Carlsbad Boulevard in front of the restaurant from five feet to 10 feet
• Widening the sidewalk along the west side of Carlsbad Boulevard from Tamarack Avenue to over the Agua Hedionda Lagoon bridge from five feet to 14 to 16 feet
• Relocating bus stops

More information
Carlsbad Blvd and Tamarack Ave staff report
Designing for safety
Slowing down
Understanding roundabouts