No single solution will make our streets safer. Instead, it requires the three Es of traffic safety:  education, engineering and enforcement.

When it comes to engineering, the City of Carlsbad uses many different design solutions when redesigning for a complete street, depending on a street's location, size and use.

Learn why reducing speeding is so important.

Restriping

Changing the striping on roads is one way we are making changes to local streets to reduce unsafe speeds and it’s one of the quickest and cost-effective ways to change the character of a street. See examples of restriped roads before and after. 

Restriping to address unsafe speeds

• Unsafe speeds is the number one cause of injury collisions in Carlsbad. 
• People generally drive as fast as is comfortable given the roadway conditions. Think higher speeds on wide, straight roads but more slowly on narrow or winding roads.  
• Changing lanes to more appropriate widths encourages drivers to pay more attention and slow down.
• The extra space can then be used to create bike lanes and safety buffers between sidewalks, bike lanes and car lanes, where appropriate and sufficient space exists.

Determining lane width

• The city follows all state and federal requirements for lane widths. 
• These requirements are found in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials document called “A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets” as well as the Caltrans Highway Design Manual. 
• Section 7.3.3.2 of the federal documents gives recommended lane widths of 10 to 12 feet and emphasizes that local practice and experience regarding lane widths should be used. 

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

• The biggest influence on driver behavior is the design of the road, not the posted speed limit.
• Some people don’t follow posted speed limits and others may simply make a mistake by driving faster than they realized. 

Other benefits

• Designing appropriate vehicle lane widths also results in lower long-term maintenance costs for the city’s pavement infrastructure. 
• It creates a steadier and improved predictable flow of traffic with less delay at traffic signals and improved opportunities for cars turning right. 

Curb extensions

• Curb extensions are placed at intersections extending the corners to help increase the visibility of pedestrians, shorten the pedestrian crossing distance, and encourage slower turning speeds by drivers.

In Carlsbad: Curb extensions have been installed in many locations throughout Carlsbad including along the coast and in various neighborhoods.

Considerations: Curb extensions do not typically take space away from bike lanes. Bike and vehicle lanes are restriped to accommodate curb extensions. One to two street parking spots may be removed with the installation of curb extensions, but they have less of an impact on street parking than other traffic calming measures such as raised medians. 

Raised medians

• Raised medians are placed in the middle of roadways to narrow traffic lanes and require horizontal deflection to slow vehicle traffic. 
• They serve as a physical change, which requires drivers to slow down, and they can also provide a refuge for pedestrians crossing the street. 

Considerations: Since curb extensions are installed in the middle of the roadway, the vehicle lane and bike lane shift toward the curb, eliminating more on-street parking spots than a curb extension would. 

Roundabouts

• Roundabouts are a safer alternative to traffic signals in most cases.
• Roundabouts lead to lower speeds, have fewer opportunities for collisions and transport 30% more traffic than intersections with traffic signals.
• Roundabouts are designed so busses, trash trucks and emergency vehicles can easily navigate them.
• Roundabouts often have landscaping or artwork in the center, which further works to slow down traffic because it causes a vertical visual element that makes drivers to pay more attention and yield to traffic coming from the left.
• If collisions happen in roundabouts, they tend to be low speed and not result in serious injuries, unlike a traditional traffic signal intersection, where t-bone and other serious collisions are common.

In Carlsbad: Carlsbad’s first roundabout along the coast is at the intersection of State Street and Carlsbad Boulevard, at the city’s northern border.

Considerations: Some people have concerns that drivers and cyclists won’t know how to use a roundabout or that it may cause more congestion, however, statistics show that people quickly adapt and roundabouts keep traffic moving more efficiently than traditional traffic lights. 

Learn more about modern roundabouts. 

Traffic circles

Even though the term "traffic circle" is often used interchangeably with roundabout, they are actually two different things. 

• Traffic circles tend to be used in residential neighborhoods, where roundabouts are more appropriate for more heavily traveled roads.
• Traffic circles are raised islands placed in intersections. 
• They prevent drivers from speeding through intersections by impeding the straight-through movement. They also reduce the potential collision points by eliminating direct left turns.

In Carlsbad: Carlsbad has several traffic circles, including on Chestnut Avenue in the Barrio near Chase Field. 

Considerations: Traffic circles require cyclists to merge with vehicle traffic as they pass through, requiring drivers and cyclists to use caution.

Speed bumps, cushions and tables 

• All in the same family, these raised areas on the road require drivers to slow down.
• Speed "bumps" are usually narrow and abrupt, best confined to parking lots. 
• Speed cushions are smaller and designed to comfortably travel 20 mph over the cushions. 
• Speed tables are more gradual, often 22 feet start-to-finish, usually with a flat top.

In Carlsbad: Tamarack Avenue has speed tables. Hillside Drive by Kelly Elementary School and Sierra Madre off Chestnut have speed cushions.

Considerations: They are comparatively inexpensive, effective in cutting down speed and self-enforcing. Generally, speed cushions must be spaced a certain distance apart to be effective. 

Speed limit signs, feedback signs and pavement markings

• Reminds drivers of the legal speed limit.

In Carlsbad: Speed feedback signs are located throughout Carlsbad, usually in areas with a higher number of collisions or concerns about speeding. 

Considerations: Making drivers aware of the speed limit isn’t always an effective way to slow traffic. People tend to drive as fast as conditions allow. 

Yield markings 

• Yield markings that look like shark teeth are at intersections that do not have a STOP sign or traffic signal. 
• Watch for flashing lights and people in the crosswalk to slow down or stop at the yield line. 

Rumble strips/changes in road texture

• Rumble strips are formed into the pavement surface of a roadway by placing grooves or materials into the pavement. 
• When a driver drives on top of a rumble strip, they are alerted that they are leaving the roadway by a vibration and sound, which can cause them to slow down and correct their trajectory. 
• The noise and vibration effect is created by the tires bouncing over the strips.

In Carlsbad: Carlsbad does not have rumble strips, but may consider adding them in the future.

Considerations: Rumble strips need to be carefully designed and constructed to minimize the probability that a cyclist might crash.