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Residents renew 23-year plea for Leucadia roundabout and safe routes to school
Summary
Residents told the council the Leucadia Boulevard/Hygiea intersection needs a roundabout, sidewalks and safer crossings for children. Speakers said promised projects have been delayed for more than two decades and urged the council to restore funding and prioritize grants for pedestrian safety.
Encinitas — Multiple residents and parents pressed the City Council to prioritize a long‑promised roundabout and sidewalks at Leucadia Boulevard and Hygiea Avenue, a stretch residents said carries roughly 15,000 vehicles per day and lacks safe pedestrian crossings.
Speakers—including longtime neighborhood activists and parents of children who walk to Pollacki Central Elementary—described a decades-long effort to complete pedestrian improvements, said the intersection has seen collisions and near-misses, and called for the promised roundabout and “complete sidewalks” to be funded and built. Several speakers noted they had been advocating for the project for 23 years and said the council previously reassigned funds to storm‑water projects; they urged the city to restore those funds when feasible.
June Hansberger, who said she has lived in Olivenhain for 30 years, presented safety and traffic slides and summarized research showing roundabouts typically reduce injury severity and lower vehicle speeds. Residents described current conditions as a four‑way stop with inadequate sidewalks and narrow crossings, and they asked the council to prioritize pedestrian refuge islands, sidewalks to Fluvia Street and protected crossings that would create a safer route to school.
Council and staff responses
Staff said the roundabout and related pedestrian work have been considered for several grant cycles. The city has applied for Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) grants in recent cycles; staff said the next HSIP application cycle opens in late February with a July deadline (staff provided the schedule), and that projects are scored on collision history, injuries and fatalities. Councilmembers urged residents to document collision history and suggested the city will re-evaluate project lists for the next cycle. Staff also noted other competing priorities and the need to coordinate with county and regional funding streams.
Speakers emphasized incremental solutions as well as grant seeking: raised crosswalks and “daylighting” curb painting to improve sight lines were suggested as lower‑cost near‑term interventions in advance of larger construction work.
Why this matters
Residents say the intersection is a dangerous barrier to walking and biking to school; the speakers framed the roundabout and sidewalks as basic safety infrastructure rather than discretionary amenities. Several speakers said restoring previously reallocated funds and applying for state grants should be a near‑term priority for the council.
What’s next
Staff said it will look again at the next HSIP grant cycle and incorporate council feedback about prioritizing safe routes to school. Council directed staff to investigate feasibility and to include “daylighting” red‑curb painting and other low‑cost traffic-calming options when preparing project scopes for grant applications. No formal funding decision was reported in the transcript.
