Residents and committee urge City of San Diego response after repeated crashes on Division Street

The National City Traffic and Safety Committee spent much of its meeting on Division Street safety after repeated crash reports and a recent hit-and-run that required rescuers to remove a baby from a vehicle.

Kelly Piper, a committee member, described multiple collisions near the William Street intersection and said the neighborhood has seen so many incidents that “someone will be killed for sure” if changes are not made. Piper said she and neighbors have told City of San Diego staff about the problem several times over the last four to five years but that San Diego’s traffic surveys have not shown evidence of speeding or elevated crash rates.

Committee members questioned whether crashes are under-reported or recorded to a different jurisdictional dataset, and they noted limited visibility and lack of lighting at the crossing. Staff described site photographs and past traffic observations and noted constraints around certain traffic-calming measures, such as speed humps, which can affect emergency access.

The committee directed staff to pursue multiple follow-ups: ask the City of San Diego for a written response about what mitigation measures it can and will implement at the William Street/Division Street location; request another traffic volume and crossing study; confirm curb-lining and operating hours at nearby day-care drop-off sites; and, where applicable, coordinate “Quick Fix for National City” options with San Diego. The committee requested a response from San Diego in time for the next meeting.

The discussion underscored a recurring theme at the meeting: neighborhood-observed crash patterns that local staff say do not appear in the external datasets San Diego uses. The committee asked staff to return with clarified data, site measurements, and any petition or implementation steps required to alter signage or curb markings.