Council restores two travel lanes on El Fuerte Road, votes to require future lane‑reduction proposals be highlighted and come to council

The Carlsbad City Council voted unanimously to restore two vehicle lanes in each direction on El Fuerte Road between Faraday Avenue and Rancho Poncho (Option 2) and directed staff to flag pending and future lane-reduction projects for council review and to improve public outreach on such changes.

Tom Frank, Transportation Director and City Engineer, presented three restriping options tied to a slurry/seal maintenance project on El Fuerte. Option 1 retained some lane reductions north of Faraday while restoring lanes in the school/residential area; Option 2 restored two travel lanes citywide between Faraday and Rancho Poncho with striping following the city’s standard operating procedure; Option 3 restored two lanes but omitted standard shared right-turn markings and narrower bike lane features. Frank said collector-arterial lane widths in the city typically range between 9 and 11 feet and that the city’s approach uses narrower travel lanes to create space for wider bike lanes or shared right-turn areas.

Two speakers urged restoring lanes near Pacific Ridge School. Resident David Pierce presented vehicle-flow observations and recommended extending the left-turn bay rather than keeping two through lanes; he concluded overflow into the through lane was the common cause of local backups. Matt Marasulo, director of facilities and operations at Pacific Ridge School, said the temporary lane reduction had created significant backups during drop-off and that roughly 700–800 vehicles a day use the school’s El Fuerte entrance; he supported restoring two lanes for the school area.

Councilmember Blackburn (mayor) said he had driven corridors under the pilot restriping and found that narrowing through lanes to approximately 10 feet with a wider bike/right-turn lane improved flow without creating safety problems; other councilmembers noted community concern and asked staff to enhance outreach. Councilmember Papatello said she supported Option 2 and seconded the motion. The council then unanimously approved a follow-up motion directing staff to bring any pending two-to-one lane reduction projects back to council for review, and to highlight future lane-reduction proposals and improve outreach to neighboring residents when board-level plans are presented.

Staff said restriping maintenance cycles occur roughly every ten years; staff will implement the council's direction and issue construction change orders as needed.