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Commission questions MMLOS monitoring and fails to adopt staff'recommended acceptance of growth-management circulation report
Summary
Commissioners and public commenters pressed staff on a decade-long lapse in multimodal level-of-service (MMLOS) monitoring; a motion to accept staff's recommendation to forward the circulation annual monitoring report to city council failed after procedural confusion and divided views over the MMLOS methodology.
A divided Traffic Safety and Mobility Commission on Feb. 3 declined to endorse staff's recommendation on the circulation section of the city's Growth Management Plan, after lengthy debate over the multimodal level-of-service (MMLOS) monitoring the general plan calls for.
Tom Frank, the city's transportation director and city engineer, told the commission the report represents the annual monitoring program and that staff evaluates exempt street segments each year and presents results for commission and council consideration. He said the exemptions are based on four set criteria and that staff monitors state and regional practices before bringing options to council for policy direction.
In public comment and during the discussion, Steve Linke, a Carlsbad resident and former traffic commissioner, urged the commission to enforce an existing schedule for agenda and packet distribution and criticized staff for repeatedly missing MMLOS monitoring commitments. Linke and a public commenter argued that staff had used a grading method that masked congestion and had effectively exempted many streets from vehicle-congestion monitoring.
Commissioners pressed staff on whether exemptions could grow indefinitely and whether the MMLOS methodology was still appropriate. Frank said staff will bring options to the city council for policy direction and that the city has monitored MMLOS implementation and explored refinements with the commission.
Commissioner 4 moved to accept the staff report as written. After procedural confusion during voting and attempts to reset, the motion failed. No alternate motion passed during the meeting. Staff said the item will be taken to city council with the information and comments gathered that evening.
What happens next: Staff said it will bring refined options and the MMLOS evaluation to the city council for policy direction within the next several months. The commission did not adopt a motion directing staff to change the methodology; rather, it debated policy and evidence to guide future council-level decisions.
Sources: Staff presentation by Transportation Director Tom Frank and public comments by resident Steve Linke at the Feb. 3 Traffic Safety and Mobility Commission meeting.
