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Commission endorses removing College Boulevard widening from CIP and revising Melrose/Palomar Airport Road scope
Summary
After staff analysis showed improved traffic operations at College Boulevard, the commission voted 6–0 to recommend City Council remove the College Boulevard widening project from the CIP and revise the Melrose Drive/Palomar Airport Road project to drop widening in favor of a right‑turn overlap signal and 11‑foot travel lanes to achieve traffic and pedestrian benefits.
The Traffic Safety Mobility Commission on June 3 voted 6–0 to recommend City Council remove the previously identified College Boulevard widening project from the capital improvement program and to revise the Melrose Drive and Palomar Airport Road project scope.
Nathan Schmidt presented the analysis showing that the College Boulevard corridor — previously identified as deficient — has improved since earlier monitoring and now operates at a better level of service. “Since that time level of service conditions have improved significantly … it’s now operating at a level of service B consistently during that PM peak hour,” Schmidt said.
For Melrose and Palomar Airport Road, staff recommended dropping the proposed additional southbound through lane and instead installing intersection improvements such as a right‑turn overlap (a green arrow for right turns) and keeping maximum travel lanes at 11 feet to provide traffic calming and shorter pedestrian crossings. Schmidt said the alternative yields a modest delay improvement (about 0.2 seconds) while avoiding significant widening costs, increased impervious surface and higher long‑term maintenance costs.
Tom Frank, the city’s transportation director, described the tradeoffs in lane widths and said the city’s standards guide design decisions for safety and multimodal access. Commissioners asked about U‑turn counts and cyclist conflict areas; staff said U‑turns are low at the site and that they will explore delineation and buffer options where bike lanes shift around right‑turn lanes.
Schmidt said staff will present the item to City Council on June 11, 2024, and that if council approves the revisions, funds freed by removing and revising the two projects would be reallocated to other priorities.
