About 20% of the streets in the city of San Diego will have their speed limits lowered following the City Council’s adoption of a comprehensive speed management plan during its March 16 meeting.
For La Jollans who have been involved in discussions about street safety for years, the local road sections that were included — and excluded — drew mixed reviews.
The speed management plan, approved by the council’s Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in February, is part of the city’s “Vision Zero” goal to eliminate traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries. The plan prioritizes safety near schools, in business districts and in areas deemed dangerous because of their history of crashes or other risk factors.
Nearly 400 of the 680 miles of San Diego streets planned for new speed limits are in school zones (within 500 feet of a campus). In La Jolla, they include 18 segments around Bird Rock Elementary School and 46 around Torrey Pines Elementary.
An additional 59 miles of city streets are planned to get lower speed limits because they are in business activity districts — commercial areas where people are frequently crossing and parking.
Some of the La Jolla street segments in that category are Fay Avenue between Prospect Street and Pearl Street, Girard Avenue between Prospect and Pearl, Herschel Avenue between Prospect and Torrey Pines Road, Pearl Street between La Jolla Boulevard and Fay Avenue, La Jolla Boulevard between Pearl and Prospect streets, and Prospect between Eads Avenue and Cave Street.
Other categories include areas of high pedestrian and bicycle activity, which in La Jolla include Calle de la Plata between Torrey Pines Road and Avenida de la Playa, Gilman Drive between Via Alicante and La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla Shores Drive between El Paseo Grande and North Torrey Pines Road, North Torrey Pines between Torrey Pines Road and Callan Road, Torrey Pines Road between Prospect Place and Pottery Canyon Driveway, Via Mallorca between Caminito Mallorca and Villa La Jolla Drive, and Villa La Jolla between Gilman Drive and La Jolla Village Drive.
State law generally has required cities to set the speed limit for a section of a street at the higher end — 85th percentile — of the speeds cars typically are driven on it.
But a 2022 state law — Assembly Bill 43 — gave cities much wider discretion to reduce speed limits if they complete a thorough analysis like San Diego’s 135-page speed management plan that deems such a move justified.
The law also gives cities the discretion to maintain the speed limit on a street even if a study determines the 85th-percentile speed is faster.
For some La Jollans, San Diego’s action is welcome.
“We are thrilled the council passed the speed management plan and we are deeply grateful … to Councilmember [Joe] LaCava and city staff for their leadership,” said resident Harry Bubbins, who in 2022 started a petition through the organization Respect Bird Rock calling for the speed limit to be lowered on a southern stretch of La Jolla Boulevard from its current 35 mph.
“What began as a local effort to lower the speed limit on La Jolla Boulevard grew into a citywide policy with widespread impact, prioritizing safety near schools from Bird Rock Elementary to The Bishop’s School and beyond,” Bubbins said. “This approval makes San Diego a statewide leader in implementing AB 43, but it is only one step. We look forward to pairing these new speed limits with safer street designs and appreciate Councilmember LaCava’s commitment to continuing work with residents on outstanding issues to ensure our streets truly protect everyone who walks, bikes, drives and lives and visits here.”
However, the exclusion of certain La Jolla streets is giving others pause.
During the transportation committee meeting, several residents of Prestwick Drive in La Jolla Shores unsuccessfully lobbied for segments of their street to be added to the list of those getting reduced speed limits. One section of Prestwick is included in the plan — between Calle de Oro and Dunaway Drive — but others are not.
La Jolla Parkway is slated to have its speed limit reduced between State Route 52 and Torrey Pines Road. Sections of Torrey Pines Road near Pottery Canyon also are on the list, but not the main thoroughfare that feeds to The Village.
La Jolla resident Dan Courtney expressed frustration at the exclusion of certain parts of Torrey Pines Road following two recent multi-vehicle crashes.
The first took place around 8:30 p.m. Jan. 29, when one person was killed and multiple people were injured in a six-vehicle crash around Torrey Pines and Hidden Valley roads, near La Jolla Parkway.
About a month later, four cars were rear-ended by another vehicle around 12:30 p.m. Feb. 27 near the intersection of Torrey Pines Road and La Jolla Shores Drive. One of the vehicles that was hit was pushed onto the median and knocked over a traffic signal. Nearly a dozen people were evaluated for injuries.
Some people also have expressed concern that reducing the speed limits will be ineffective without additional enforcement.
“Every single day on Soledad Road … [cars] heading south toward Kate Sessions Park go over the speed limit,” said La Jolla resident Rich Dane. “There is a sign flashing their speed and every single one is going over the speed limit. It’s kind of comical. It doesn’t matter what the speed limits are [when] there’s no one enforcing it.”
City officials said reduced speeds need to be paired with “continued traffic-calming improvements, intersection safety enhancements, street design changes, education and public outreach and traffic enforcement.”
The speed management plan is available at sandiego.gov/vision-zero/safety-initiatives. See all proposed speed limits at bit.ly/40lYRr0. ♦