La Jolla Shores residents are taking steps to get traffic-calming measures on their residential streets, including gathering signatures and speaking at the La Jolla Traffic & Transportation Board.
As a result, a request for speed lumps on East Roseland Drive was approved during the T&T Board’s Aug. 18 meeting, and will be forwarded to the city of San Diego for consideration. A similar request for speed lumps and additional signs on other Shores streets was also considered, but the board recommended residents gather signatures on a petition from affected neighbors before voting.
Neighborhood representatives for East Roseland Drive and Prestwick Drive have appeared at several T&T Board meetings over the past year, detailing dangerous conditions on their streets and pushing for different traffic-calming measures.
Speed lumps are similar to humps but are are considered a less-expensive, less-intrusive alternative to speed humps. They are also divided into three lumps with one foot of space between each. The space between the lumps is designed to accommodate the axle width of firetrucks so they can pass through without having to go over the speed lumps. All vehicles with smaller axle widths must go over the lumps with at least one side of the vehicle.
East Roseland Drive
East Roseland Drive, T&T Chairman Erik Gantzel said at the group’s May meeting, “is a tough nut to crack” in terms of implementing traffic-calming measures.
At the time, one East Roseland resident described the situation on their street as “outrageous” due to its use as a shortcut to bypass traffic on Torrey Pines Road, and added that several construction projects on the street have made driving there even more difficult. But any traffic measures like traditional speed bumps face the significant hurdle of making sure emergency responder access remains unobstructed.
Joaquin Quintero, field representative for City Council President Joe LaCava, whose District 1 includes La Jolla, said in May that the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department conducted a review of East Roseland Drive and found that it serves as an emergency route in what is considered a very high fire severity zone and therefore would be used by first responders.
Traffic-calming devices, the department said, would adversely affect response times and firefighting operations. That determination was initially made in 2017, and a more recent review affirmed it.
Nevertheless, area resident Riad Mardoum returned to the T&T board during its August meeting to ask that it endorse two ideas: installing speed lumps, and establishing and enforcing a 15 miles per hour speed limit on the street.
The latest proposal also comes with a groundswell of support. Mardoum said 28 neighbors in the affected area signed onto the petition. He said that number captures a vast majority of affected residents and that they responded to his pitch with enthusiasm.
Board member Patrick Ryan added that East Roseland Drive is a good place for speed lumps, but he isn’t sure what can be done about increased speeding enforcement.
All said, a motion to support the installation of speed lumps passed unanimously.
Prestwick Drive, Dunaway Drive and Calle del Oro
Another traffic calming proposal received tentative approval from the T&T board, on the condition that residents sign a petition in support of the idea.
Prestwick Drive is part of a curvy residential street that runs parallel to Torrey Pines Road and connects to La Jolla Shores Drive. The roughly 1.6-mile road becomes Dunaway Drive at its northern end and becomes Calle del Oro at its southern end.
Area resident and speed reduction advocate Laura Eaton, who has spoken at T&T board meetings several times, says the area is occupied by many senior citizens as well as a few families with young children.
Area resident Laura Eaton describes some of the issues she’s observed at Prestwick Drive, Calle del Oro and Dunaway Drive. She, too, sought the La Jolla Traffic & Transportation board’s support for traffic calming measures. (Noah Lyons)
Driving speeds on Prestwick Drive in particular have been described by residents at previous meetings as “absolutely out of control,” impacting people pulling out of their driveways as well as pedestrians walking by or crossing the street.
“The fact is we have documented our problem — and it’s severe and scary — and the city has done nothing so far,” Eaton said during her Aug. 18 presentation. “What we’re asking as a group is … a letter of support from (the La Jolla Traffic and Transportation Board), advising the city to take our recommendations.”
Eaton identified three requests she wants the board to recommend to the city: install speed lumps at the 8500 block of Prestwick Drive; add two speed display signs on Calle del Oro; and place stop signs uphill and downhill on Dunaway Drive.
Eaton asked the board to support the first two proposals. The request for stop signs is considered in progress, rather than something the board would vote on right now.
In response, the board offered its support as long as she secures support from the community in the form of a petition.
“You would need 75% of the neighbors’ agreement,” Ryan said. “Because you might love (these measures), but the community is not necessarily represented in this room.”
Ryan formally raised a motion to support the proposal, with the expectation that a petition will soon be conducted and sent to the T&T board.