Escondido staff favors signalized fix for South Escondido Boulevard, seeks Caltrans OK for $1.4M earmark

City of Escondido staff and consultant SDC Traffic recommended a signalized redesign for the South Escondido Boulevard and Center City Parkway corridor at the Transportation and Community Safety Commission meeting Oct. 9. The preferred plan — identified as Alternative 4 in consultant materials — would install signal control on the north and south approaches, provide separate southbound left‑turn and right‑turn movements, and add a staggered, signalized pedestrian crossing at Brotherton.

The proposal comes after a string of collisions at South Escondido and follows a rescoping of the city’s earmarked federal funding. "This was the best operational alternative," Christian Lambarth, project manager for SDC Traffic, said as he presented the 30% concept designs and performance modeling. Lambarth said earlier full‑access signal concepts created long queues on Center City Parkway and that Alternative 4 produced the best balance of delay and queue lengths in the consultant’s analysis.

City staff said the project is funded with a $1,400,000 legislative earmark secured through Congressman Darrell Issa. Craig Williams (staff) told the commission the earmark covers design and construction but that the project must receive Caltrans authorization before construction funds can be used. Staff reported the project is at about 30% design and that environmental work, project specifications and estimates must be completed and submitted to Caltrans to meet the funding timeline; staff said construction could begin mid‑next year if schedules and authorizations hold.

Design detail presented for Brotherton calls for a staggered pedestrian crossing across Center City Parkway that operates in two phases to limit queueing. Lambarth said the pedestrian phase would activate only when a user requests it; flashing beacons and coordination with nearby signals are planned to reduce disruption to mainline traffic. To minimize utility relocations and keep the project on schedule, the northwest corner of the crossing would be reconfigured by shifting the right‑turn lane and ‘‘popping out’’ curb to provide space for curb ramps and signal equipment rather than undertaking major utility moves.

Commissioners raised alternatives, including proposals to close some left‑turn movements at the intersection to reduce conflict points. Staff cautioned that closing turns would likely divert substantial traffic to other adjacent intersections (Felicita, Brotherton, Citracado) and could move the operational and safety problem rather than solve it. "If you take away throughput on Center City you adversely affect signal operations overall," Lambarth said; staff noted Caltrans historically resists projects that simply shift traffic problems to other locations.

Staff and the consultant said the next steps are to complete environmental clearances and PS&E (project specifications, plans and estimates) and submit them to Caltrans for authorization. Construction will be scheduled only after Caltrans approval and completion of the required bid‑ready documents.

Discussion only: the commission received the report and asked questions; no formal commission action was taken on the design choices during the Oct. 9 meeting.

Provenance: Topic intro: "I will kick this off and then I'm going to turn it over to Christian to talk about some of the design work that they've been doing on this corridor." (transcript block b185) Topic finish: "That'll actually be median... That'll actually be median a signalized median..." (transcript block b252)

Speakers (attributed in article): - Christian Lambarth, Project Manager, SDC Traffic (consultant) - Craig Williams, staff member (City of Escondido) - Ali, city traffic engineer (as referenced in discussion)

Authorities: - grant: "$1,400,000 legislative earmark secured through Congressman Issa" (referenced in staff presentation)

Discussion vs. decision: - Discussion only: alternatives analysis, public safety tradeoffs, signal phasing, pedestrian crossing design. - Direction/next steps: staff to complete environmental work and PS&E and seek Caltrans authorization. - Formal action: none taken on design alternatives at this meeting.

Clarifying details: - Funding amount: $1,400,000 legislative earmark (design and construction) — stated by staff. - Design status: ~30% concept design completed; environmental and PS&E required before Caltrans authorization. - Preferred alternative: Alternative 4 (signalized north/south with dual southbound movements); consultant reported improved LOS and reduced delay versus full‑access signal alternatives.

Searchable_tags:["south_escondido","center_city_parkway","signalization","pedestrian_safety","federal_earmark"]