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News from the City of Carlsbad | Jan. 29, 2026

Our city has been working for several years to enhance traffic safety and add more parking in the Village and Barrio, resulting in an additional 44 spaces in 2025. This week I’ll share an update on our traffic-calming and infrastructure work in the Barrio, as well as a proposal to add more parking and a stop sign along Grand Avenue downtown.

I’ll also give you a behind-the-scenes look at work recently completed by our Utilities team, which often goes unnoticed but plays a big role in our quality of life. 

Here’s the full lineup:

• Construction to start soon on Barrio traffic calming
• More parking and a new stop sign considered for Grand Avenue
• Annual Point in Time Count
• Utilities team highlights a year of reliable service
• Nominations open for Citizen of the Year
• Community events and activities
• Weekend work at Batiquitos Lagoon
• What’s on the agenda for your next City Council meeting

Construction to start soon on Barrio traffic calming

If you’re a frequent reader of these updates, you may have seen information I shared recently about several infrastructure improvements that are planned in the Barrio this year, including:

• Pedestrian lighting improvements
• Traffic safety measures
• Water and sewer pipeline replacements

Earlier this week, construction started to install more than 100 new pedestrian lights in the Barrio. And on Tuesday, the Carlsbad City Council approved the construction contract for traffic safety measures and water and sewer pipeline replacements, clearing the way for construction to begin this spring. Here’s a recap of what we will be doing:

Traffic calming

Dozens of street improvements are planned in the Barrio to help reduce speeds and enhance safety at several intersections, including:

• New all-way stop signs at 4 intersections: Oak Avenue and Jefferson Street; Chestnut Avenue and Madison Street; Chestnut Avenue and Roosevelt Street; and Magnolia Avenue and Madison Street
• 43 new high-visibility crosswalks
• One raised crosswalk, which is similar to a speed cushion with a painted crosswalk on it
• Six rectangular rapid flashing beacons, which are signs that light up to alert drivers when people are crossing the street
• One traffic circle with public art, which was previously approved by the City Council during its July 29 meeting

Water and sewer improvements

Before street improvements can be completed, aging water and sewer pipelines will be replaced near several intersections to improve reliability and meet current standards. This work is planned near:

• Harding Street and Pine Avenue
• Oak Avenue and Jefferson Street
• Oak Avenue and Harding Street
• Harding Street and Palm Avenue
• Chestnut Avenue and Roosevelt Street
• Chestnut Avenue and Madison Street
• Madison Street and Pine Avenue

Construction on these projects should take about a year and is expected to be complete by spring 2027.

Thank you for your patience during construction. A lot of work is planned in the Barrio this year, and we know that can cause inconveniences. We will notify residents and businesses in advance about potential impacts and work as quickly as possible to minimize disruptions.

Sign up for email updates to get the latest news on these projects and other projects planned in the Village and Barrio.

More parking and new stop sign considered for Grand Avenue



Speaking of downtown street improvements, the City of Carlsbad is considering ways to improve parking and traffic safety along Grand Avenue by converting some existing parallel parking to diagonal parking and installing a new all-way stop at Grand Avenue and Madison Street. 

The new all-way stop sign would make it easier for pedestrians to cross the street at Grand and Madison. The proposed parking changes, between Tyler and Jefferson streets, would include:

• Reducing the number of westbound lanes on Grand Avenue from two to one
• Creating a center turn lane
• Adding 11 new parking spaces

The Traffic Safety & Mobility Commission will discuss both of these projects at its next meeting on Monday, Feb. 2.

Traffic Safety & Mobility Commission

Monday, Feb. 2, 4 p.m.

Council Chamber

1200 Carlsbad Village Drive

How to participate

Your input can help ensure these potential improvements reflect the community’s needs and priorities.

Here’s how you can participate in the meeting and share your feedback:

• Provide comments in person during the meeting
• Email traffic@carlsbadca.gov before 1 p.m. on the day of the meeting
• Watch the livestream

The agenda and staff reports will be available on the city’s website by Thursday, Jan. 29.

2026 Annual Point in Time Count

Today city staff, nonprofit organizations and volunteers were up before dawn completing the annual Point in Time Count. The count is part of a nationwide effort to collect data on homelessness on the same day over a four-hour period.

• In Carlsbad, community members are invited to participate alongside outreach workers, social workers and city staff from Homeless Services and the Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Team.
• The data collected in Carlsbad is one of several metrics we use to gauge the success of our Homelessness Action Plan.
• It also helps us better understand the population experiencing homelessness and how we can best direct resources to address the problem and the effects on our community.

We expanded the number of volunteer spots for this year's count in Carlsbad because we know how deeply people in our city care — and once again, our community answered the call. Thank you to everyone who volunteered their time so early in the morning.

We expect to have the results from the count in several months from the San Diego Regional Task Force on Homelessness. If you’d like to stay updated on the city’s efforts to reduce homelessness, you can sign up for email updates. 

Utilities team highlights a year of reliable service

This week, city staff presented an update on water, recycled water and wastewater operations and maintenance to the City Council, highlighting work completed during the last fiscal year to keep Carlsbad’s systems safe, reliable and resilient.

Work done by our Utilities staff often goes unnoticed because so much of the system they maintain is underground. Today, I want to take a moment to highlight this essential infrastructure and the role it plays in protecting public health and our community’s quality of life.

The update to the City Council covered efforts across water, recycled water and wastewater operations, with a focus on maintaining infrastructure, improving efficiency, supporting conservation and protecting environmental health.

You can watch our Utilities team in action in this video, which features behind-the-scenes footage from recent construction projects. 

Last year, the Utilities Department:

• Installed 30 new valves and replaced 57 aging valves
• Maintained 827 miles of water, recycled water and sewer pipelines
• Finished construction on a new 1.5-million-gallon recycled water tank
• Delivered 4.4 billion gallons of drinking water
• Collected over 6 million gallons daily of sewage to Encina wastewater plant

Thank you to our Utilities team for the important work you do every day to keep Carlsbad’s water systems running smoothly.

Nominations open for our next Citizen of the Year

Do you know someone who goes above and beyond to make Carlsbad a better place? The City of Carlsbad is now accepting nominations for its Citizen of the Year award, recognizing residents who devote their time and energy to civic improvement, beautification and community well-being in Carlsbad.

A five-person committee appointed by the Mayor will select up to two honorees, based on criteria such as:

• Long and faithful service to the community
• Distinguished service in a position of responsibility
• Enterprise, initiative, diligence and care in performing a specific volunteer assignment
• Outstanding contribution to the development, growth and welfare of the community

Nomination forms are available on the city’s website and at City Hall, at 1200 Carlsbad Village Drive. Nominations are due by April 3.

Community events and activities

Here are some of the community events and activities happening soon at our city libraries, community centers and the Carlsbad Senior Center:

• Cinema Club Friday: "Anatomy of a Fall" – Friday, Jan. 30, 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., Dove Library
• Paws to Read special event – Saturday, Jan. 31, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., Dove Library
• Dion Leanord Author Event – Saturday, Jan. 31, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Dove Library
• Senior Panel: Unlock Aging in Place, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 11 a.m. to noon, Carlsbad Senior Center
• Bill Clevlen Author Event – Tuesday, Feb. 3, 4 p.m., Dove Library
• Carlsbad Newcomers Club – Wednesday, Feb. 4, 9:45 to 11:30 a.m., Carlsbad Senior Center
• Reel Wednesday: "F-1" – Wednesday, Feb. 4, 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., Dove Library

Find more information and fun things to do in our city calendar, the Senior Center’s Seaside Insider newsletter and our Winter Community Services Guide.

Weekend work at Batiquitos Lagoon

SANDAG and Caltrans asked us to share that crews will continue work on the Batiquitos Lagoon Double Track Project this weekend and on several additional weekends in the coming weeks as part of the Build NCC improvements.

This project will replace the old bridge and add nearly a mile of new double track, helping trains run faster and more reliably. Excavation of the channel beneath the bridge will also result in additional sand placed on nearby beaches over the next two years. 

Work is scheduled on Saturday, Jan. 31, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., with activity in the Carlsbad right-of-way beginning after 8 a.m. 

The work may create some noise from equipment and vehicle backup alarms.

What’s on the agenda for your next City Council meeting

The next City Council meeting will be on Tuesday, Feb. 3, starting at 5 p.m. in the City Council Chamber. Topics include:

• Funding for a project to install six new electric vehicle charging stations at the State Street parking lot in the Village
• Continuing the proclamation of a storm-related local emergency to make swift repairs to a damaged storm drain in the coastal bluffs along Carlsbad Boulevard north of Solamar Drive 
• Adopting an ordinance updating city regulations on accessory dwelling units to align with recent changes in state law
• Annual work plans for the Library Board of Trustees and Arts Commission  
• Update on federal activities in the City of Carlsbad

The agenda and staff reports are available on the city’s website.

3 easy ways to participate

1. Sign up to get agendas and staff reports emailed to you directly
2. Provide feedback via email to clerk@carlsbadca.gov by 2 p.m. the day of the meeting 
3. Sign up to speak at the meeting

… and 3 ways to watch

1. Follow the meeting live on the city's website 
2. Watch the meeting live on the city’s cable channel: Spectrum channel 24 or AT&T U-verse channel 99
3. Watch a recording of the meeting afterward (online or on our channel) 

In addition to the Traffic Safety & Mobility Commission meeting I mentioned earlier, several other city boards and commissions are scheduled to meet next week, including the Planning Commission, Arts Commission and Environmental Sustainability Commission.

The Arts Commission will meet Thursday, Feb. 5 and discuss the updated design concept for the Chestnut Underpass public art project. We’ll be sharing the renderings soon and inviting the community to weigh in. Sign up for email updates to get the latest project information.

Board and commission meetings are livestreamed on the city’s website and available to watch afterward. See the full meeting schedule on our city calendar.

As always, thanks for reading. Have a great weekend.

Geoff Patnoe

City Manager