Commission recommends Sage Creek High School safe routes plan for city council review

The Traffic Safety and Mobility Commission received a report on a proposed Safe Routes to School plan for Sage Creek High School and voted March 3 to recommend the conceptual plan to the City Council.

Nathan Schmidt, transportation planning and mobility manager, and associate engineer Nick Gorman presented the plan. Staff said Sage Creek High School enrolls about 1,400 students who travel to the campus from across Carlsbad and portions of Oceanside and that College Boulevard and Cannon Road together carry roughly 21,000 vehicles per day. Mode-share results presented during the meeting showed approximately 85% of students arrive by vehicle, about 4% by bus and roughly 8% by e-bike — an estimated 100 e-bikes per day, staff said.

The plan groups improvements into three categories: near-term low-cost items (signing and striping, targeted green conflict paint), long-term infrastructure (shared two-way Class I bike/pedestrian paths on Cannon and College Boulevard where feasible, concrete replacement of decomposed-granite walking paths), and items needing additional engineering study (intersection signal and phasing changes). Near-term safety recommendations focus on the high-activity intersection at College Boulevard and Cannon Road and the school frontage at Bobcat Boulevard, where staff proposed changes to better separate bicycles and pedestrians from parent drop-off traffic. Conceptual intersection changes at Bobcat and Cannon include widened sidewalks/buffers, new or relocated crosswalks, and timing adjustments such as running pedestrian phases to better move bicycles via existing pedestrian signal phases. Staff also proposed a “no right turn on red” blank-out sign during select pedestrian phases to eliminate conflicting vehicle turns.

Staff described outreach that included school administration meetings, a walk-audit, a parent/staff listening session, mailed notices to nearby residents and an online survey. Staff revised the conceptual plan in response to public input by adding green paint in conflict areas, moving one proposed no-right-on-red change from short-term to long-term consideration, and exploring options to improve a northbound left-turn bike movement at College Boulevard and Carlsbad Village Drive.

Public commenters generally supported the plan and urged quick coordination with the school district. Christina McGoldrick, a parent and District 2 resident, told commissioners the plan “meets the 3 E’s of traffic safety, education, engineering, and enforcement” and asked whether flashing signage and camera enforcement could be used at College and Cannon. David Pierce, a resident, praised the proposal’s proposed multi-use paths and urged swift school-district collaboration: “Please, please, please get them on board very quickly,” he said, noting additional nearby housing will increase future student numbers.

Commission discussion focused on practical questions that will be addressed in detailed design: whether to rely on pedestrian-phase timing to move bicycles through the Bobcat/Cannon intersection or instead install dedicated bicycle signal phases, how to configure interim bike access across Bobcat Boulevard (center-running lane, sharrows, or use of the proposed north-side Class I path), and how to coordinate on-site circulation and bike parking with the school district. Commissioners and members of the public suggested targeted education and bike-safety training for students, and staff recommended programmatic measures including walk/bike-to-school events and continuing bike education tied to the school program.

Action and next steps: The commission voted to receive the report and recommend the conceptual Sage Creek High School Safe Routes to School plan to City Council. Staff will finalize the plan, continue outreach with the school and surrounding residents, and bring the plan forward to the City Council for approval and any required funding decisions before large-scale construction.