As you probably know, government tends to use a lot of specialized terms. Traffic calming is one of those. Here’s what it means:

• Traffic calming refers to a variety of things that can be done to slow down cars as they travel through neighborhoods.
• The term originated in Europe to describe an approach to designing streets that balance the needs of all users – cars, walkers and bicyclists.
• Traffic calming is not used on major thoroughfares. It’s geared toward neighborhoods where you have a greater mix of users sharing the road.

The city has a traffic calming program designed to address neighborhood concerns about speeding in Carlsbad. On Tuesday, the City Council approved new traffic calming plans for sections of Park Drive, Black Rail Road, Plum Tree Road and Carrillo Way.  (See the plans).

Here’s how the program works:

1. Report a concern about neighborhood speeding to traffic@carlsbadca.gov
2. A city staff person will follow up to discuss your specific street and gather background.
3. If your street qualifies for the program, traffic engineers visit your neighborhood to determine potential solutions.
4. We often start with quick solutions, like adding signs, increasing police enforcement and installing temporary speed feedback signs.
5. If more is needed, we work with neighbors to evaluate other solutions, like speed bumps, restriping, curb extensions and traffic circles.
6. Once we develop a plan, we mail a survey to the whole neighborhood explaining the proposed changes.
7. If approved, the city makes the changes then monitors the street to make sure they’re working as intended.

(This is a high-level overview. You can read more about how the program works to decide if it’s a good fit for your neighborhood).

The City Council allocates funding for this program in the annual city budget. Depending on how many requests have been made in a given year, some neighborhoods might get put on a waiting list.

See the results

This video shows a before and after of a traffic calming project in La Costa. In this case two speed cushions* were installed on a stretch of Cadencia Street off La Costa Avenue, reducing speeds by about 10 miles per hour.

* Speed cushions are like speed bumps but gentler to cars, with gaps for emergency vehicles.