Capitola Council Reviews Draft Local Roadway Safety Plan, Seeks More Enforcement Data

City staff presented a data‑driven draft Local Roadway Safety Plan that targets corridors with concentrated pedestrian and bicycle injuries and recommends engineering and programmatic measures to reduce serious crashes.

Director Khan summarized the findings, saying that Capitola ranks high among comparable cities for pedestrian and bicyclist injury counts and that contributing factors identified in crash reports include speeding, impaired driving and right‑of‑way conflicts. “Some recommended improvements that meet the crash reduction factors are leading pedestrian intervals, reflective back plates and advanced stop bars,” Khan said. The plan links recommended countermeasures to grant opportunities and prioritizes projects by benefit, cost and feasibility.

Several council members asked for enforcement and citation data to accompany the plan so that the city can align engineering changes with enforcement and education. The police chief told the council staff would provide more granular enforcement data and cited ongoing efforts to qualify officers for speed enforcement and to track e‑bike incidents; the chief said a memo with enforcement trends will be provided within a week.

Public commenters urged a signalized intersection with a leading pedestrian interval at a busy crossing near Porter Street rather than a roundabout to improve predictability for seniors and other vulnerable users.

Staff said the draft LRSP will be refined and is expected to return for adoption in the next two to three meetings, and that the plan will be used to prioritize grant applications and incorporate near‑term “low‑cost, easily implementable” engineering measures.