Carlsbad pauses El Fuerte lane reduction, orders review of Barrio traffic-circle parking impacts

Mayor Blackburn and the Carlsbad City Council unanimously directed staff to return with alternatives to a planned lane reduction and asked Public Works to study parking replacement options after residents raised concerns about the project’s impact.

The council’s action came during consideration of a consent calendar item that included slurry-seal work and striping changes on El Fuerte Street. Tom Frank, the city’s transportation director and city engineer, told the council the striping change had been reviewed last May and that staff had received “a lot of comments on particular sections of El Fuerte restriping and the elimination of a vehicle lane.” He said lane reductions can improve sight lines and manage speeds but acknowledged community concern around converting two lanes to one.

The council’s motion directs staff to return with a plan showing an option that would retain two lanes on the segment of El Fuerte under review. The motion passed unanimously. Council members later moved and unanimously approved a second direction asking public works to examine opportunities to create additional on-street parking along Madison and Chestnut to mitigate parking lost to the Barrio traffic circles project.

Why it matters

The Barrio traffic-circles project is intended as a traffic-calming measure in a neighborhood where residents and the council have sought long-standing relief from speeding and circulation issues. But changes to curb lines and the installation of five traffic circles will affect on-street parking and the circulation patterns used by residents and nearby schools.

Key details

- According to Transportation Director Tom Frank, the five proposed traffic circles would result in a total loss of 46 on-street parking spaces. Frank said staff will provide a table in the staff report that breaks down parking loss by circle. - One developer project nearby would add nine dwelling units but provide six garage parking spaces, leaving a shortfall to be made up on-street, Jeff Murphy, community development director, said. Murphy explained state law (AB 2097) can prevent local governments from imposing minimum parking requirements for new developments within a half-mile of a transit station; three of the traffic circles lie within that half-mile boundary and therefore some future developments in that zone may not be required to provide parking. - The city has identified up to 28 potential additional on-street parking spaces in the Village area by re-evaluating no-parking restrictions; staff will extend that evaluation to the Barrio. - Staff said they coordinate proposed curb alignments with police and fire and that emergency partners have driven the marked field alignments and “do not oppose this project.”

Public comment and property concerns

Several residents spoke during the public-comment and project portions of the meeting. John Mattze, who owns property at Pine and Madison, said he had documented a historic driveway approach for his property and asked staff to work with him so the new circle would not eliminate his driveway. He told the council he had produced a 1966 resolution and city map showing the approach and asked staff for help retaining access.

Council direction and next steps

- The council voted unanimously to ask staff to return with a plan that shows an option retaining two lanes on El Fuerte, and to bring back a report on parking options along Madison and Chestnut. - Staff said the El Fuerte lane issue could not be decided at that meeting because it was not agendized for a final action; instead the council asked for a future report.

Speakers