To balance the needs of all roadway users, the city is resurfacing and restriping approximately 16 miles of several east-west roadways throughout the city. We are narrowing, and in some cases reducing, car lanes and expanding bike lanes and buffer areas between bike and car lanes. 

The restriping as recommended in the Safer Streets Together Plan, approved by the City Council on Sept. 27, 2022 will:

• Help address speeding by reducing the travel lane width or reducing the number of travel lanes between intersections
• Provide greater separation between vehicles and bicyclists
• Identify and minimize potential areas of conflict
• Increase visibility of bicycle lanes and conflict zones
• Turning lanes at intersections will be maintained. Traffic flow is not anticipated to be impacted after its restriping

• Carlsbad Village Drive (Interstate 5, or I-5, to College Boulevard), approximately 3.3 miles
  • Reducing lanes between Appian Road to Chatham Road
• Tamarack Avenue (Carlsbad Boulevard to Carlsbad Village Drive), approximately 3.5 miles
  • Reducing lanes between Skyline Road to Carlsbad Village Drive
• Cannon Road (220 feet west of Avenida Encinas to Faraday Avenue), approximately 1.6 miles
• Poinsettia Lane (Carlsbad Boulevard to Melrose Drive), approximately 5.0 miles
  • Reducing lanes between Carlsbad Boulevard and Avenida Encinas
• La Costa Avenue (I-5 to Fairway Lane, just past El Camino Real), approximately 2.3 miles
• Olivenhain Road (Encinitas city limits to Rancho Santa Fe Road intersection), approximately 0.2 miles

To minimize traffic impacts, some night work is required. If night construction nears your home or business, you will receive a door hanger notification.

There will be construction noise from the equipment and activities. Crews will work to minimize these impacts to the extent possible.

Night work - 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.

• Carlsbad Village Drive – I-5 to Pio Pico
• Tamarack Avenue – Hibiscus Circle to Adams Street
• Cannon Road – I-5 to Faraday Avenue
• Poinsettia Lane – Carlsbad Boulevard to Melrose Drive
• La Costa Avenue – I-5 to El Camino Real
• Olivenhain Road – Los Pinos Circle to Camino Alvaro/Rancho Santa Fe Road

This work is one way we are making changes to local streets to reduce speeding, which is by far the number one cause of injury collisions in Carlsbad. Here are a few questions we’ve received about this road work:

Why are the lanes changing?

• Speeding is listed as the number one cause of injury collisions in Carlsbad, cited as the “primary collision factor” in 25% of these crashes. I should note that distracted driving is often associated with this collision factor as well.
• Narrowing lanes forces drivers to pay more attention and slow down.
• There are national industry standards for lane widths, and all our streets still fall within those standards.
• Our traffic engineers base the width on several factors, including traffic volume, speed, the type of street and its location.

Can’t you just lower the speed limit to slow down traffic?

• Believe it or not, no. The law says we can only set speed limits within a certain percentage of the speed people actually drive on the road. Otherwise, it's considered a speed trap.
• That’s why we need to first make changes to the street. This causes drivers to slow down. We then do a speed survey to document that driver behavior has changed, and the average speed has gone down.
• Only then can we establish a lower speed limit that is enforceable.

Why is so much construction happening at the same time?

• The sooner streets are restriped, the sooner we can expect to see the safety benefits of slower speeds and added room for bicyclists.
• By bundling all of the east-west streets together, we gain efficiencies and are in a better position to negotiate the lowest cost for this work, which saves taxpayer money.

Why do crews leave and come back to the same areas multiple times?

Repaving and restriping require several steps:

• First the street needs to be prepped by grinding down certain areas and sealing cracks.
• Then, it’s ready to be resurfaced. We try to resurface one lane or one side at a time so traffic can still get through. When one side is done, we switch to the other side.
• The new surface needs a little time before it’s ready for new striping.

• Completing all the striping usually takes between two to four weeks. That’s why you will see temporary lane markers right after a street is resurfaced.

Why is so much room being given to bikes when most people drive?

• We are working with streets that have already been built. When they were first designed, wider lanes were the norm.
• When we narrow travel lanes for cars, we make use of the extra space to create bike lanes and safety buffers between bike lanes and car lanes.
• When people feel safer, they are more likely to bike, and biking helps people stay healthy and reduces car trips, which are Carlsbad’s number one source of greenhouse gas emissions.

How can I find out where construction is taking place?

• Look for digital message boards and other signs indicating which portions of these streets are affected on which days.
• Please leave a little extra time to get where you need to go until this work is completed.
• Be on the lookout for crews and drive slowly in construction areas.

Slurry sealing involves removing traffic striping and pavement markings, sealing larger cracks in the pavement surface, then applying a thin layer of asphalt emulsion, small rocks and sand. It’s a cost-effective way to protect and improve the look and drivability of the pavement and extend its life by five to seven years.  

Fog seal is similar to slurry seal, but involves applying a thinner layer to streets that do not yet need more extensive repairs. Depending on the existing conditions, fog seal can extend the life of the pavement by two to four years before other treatments like a slurry seal or overlay are needed. 

Watch a video of the City of Carlsbad pavement management program. 

The recent slurry seal and fog seal work included more than 200 street segments throughout the city. Crews have applied enough slurry seal to cover about 22 miles of average roadways. 

Pavement management is funded through the city’s Capital Improvement Program budget. The money comes from state gas tax revenue, local TransNet funds and fees paid by local trash haulers.