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Why can’t we just lower speed limits?
Generally speaking, speed limits need to be set within a certain percentage of how fast people actually drive, or else it’s considered a speed trap. That’s why we redesign the road first to slow traffic. Then, we take a speed survey to show speeds have been reduced. Only then can we officially lower the speed limit.
We have done this successfully in neighborhoods throughout Carlsbad and most recently along Carlsbad Boulevard, which is one of the collision hot spots in the city (also shown on the map above).
How narrow is too narrow?
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.
Where are lanes changing from two to one?
- Carlsbad Village Drive between Appian Road to Chatham Road
- Tamarack Avenue between Skyline Drive to Carlsbad Village Drive
- Poinsettia Lane between Carlsbad Boulevard and Avenida Encinas
What do the new diagonal white stripes mean?
When we narrow the lanes for cars, we often have extra space on the street to create a buffer between the bike lane and the car lane. Think of these areas as a barrier or striped medians you should not cross.
And what about the green paint?
We paint bike lanes green in areas that are considered potential “conflict points,” meaning areas where drivers might be more likely to hit a bicyclist. This is usually around intersections, especially where drivers can make a right-hand turn.
Green paint doesn’t change any of the traffic rules. For example, drivers still need to yield to bicyclists and then merge all the way to the right, entering into the dashed lines, before turning. The green paint is an extra reminder to carefully look for and yield to bicyclists before moving all the way to the right to turn. Learn more about green markings.
Why is there a gap between when roads are resurfaced and when the new lanes are painted?
When streets are resurfaced, they need time to dry thoroughly before they can be painted. This usually takes between two to four weeks. That’s why you will see temporary lane markers right after a street is resurfaced.
Why is the city doing so many streets at once?
The two main reasons are:
- We know this work will reduce speeding, so we want to get it done as quickly as possible.
- 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.
When’s it going to be done?
Soon! Some street segments are further along than others. All 16 miles worth of improvements are scheduled for completion over the next two months.
I hope that helps explain what’s going on. We appreciate your patience as we work to get these projects completed quickly and safely.
Pedestrian injuries
I got some questions last week about why we only shared injury collision data for all modes of travel combined and for bikes and e-bikes. The short answer is that we have relatively few pedestrian collisions compared to bikes and other modes of travel. As a result, the number varies quite a bit from year to year. Here is the data over the past four years:
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