Traffic commission approves semiannual transportation report after resident urges bike and transit improvements

The Carlsbad Traffic Safety and Mobility Commission voted to accept its semiannual transportation report after a resident urged the city to preserve bicycle elements in widening projects and to do more to support bus operations.

Transportation Director Tom Frank presented the report and told commissioners staff is available to answer questions about project scoping and next steps. Resident David Pierce of the Aviara area praised planned items — including traffic calming on Unicornio and continued work on the Coastal Rail Trail — but said a pedestrian-and-bike bridge he recalled for the El Camino Real widening is no longer described in the project list and urged the city not to ‘‘value engineer’’ bike facilities out of projects.

Why this matters: The semiannual report inventories capital projects and near-term work that shape walking, biking and transit access across the city. Public comments flagged decisions made during project scoping that could prevent future, lower-cost accommodations for bikes or multiuse paths.

Pierce urged the commission to incorporate bike elements early in project scoping and called for transit-support measures such as signal priority at pinch points. ‘‘These are all great items which will help make it easier for people to walk and bike around the city,’’ Pierce said.

Frank responded to specific questions about maintenance and design. He confirmed the city will continue the horizontal slicing pilot for concrete sidewalks to remove trip hazards, saying the pilot was successful and ‘‘we are going to continue with the horizontal slicing of the concrete to address the trip hazards.’’ He also said staff will bring a report on travel-demand-management monitoring of 14 local employers back to the commission on a future agenda, and that the El Camino Real project will return to the commission before plans go to city council for approval and authorization to advertise for bids.

Commissioners asked questions about several capital-improvement projects mentioned in the report, including CIP 3896 (stairway handrails and related access), CIP 1694 (El Camino Real widening from Sunny Creek to Jax Park) and CIP 6070 (residential traffic improvements/traffic-calming program). Frank said the street segment in CIP 3896 will return to its prior lane configuration after work and described coordination with Caltrans on interchange striping and bike-lane configuration for the Palomar Airport/Bridal over I‑5 project.

A commissioner moved to approve the semiannual report as written; another commissioner seconded the motion and the chair announced the motion passed. The report will be forwarded to the City Council as a consent item.

Next steps: Staff will return with the TDM monitoring report and bring suggested modifications to the traffic-calming program to the commission (staff indicated February as the target month).