El Fuerte speed limit decision delayed

By: BARBARA HENRY - Staff Writer | Tuesday, January 9, 2007 10:48 PM PST ∞

CARLSBAD -- A decision on setting a speed limit for a nearly two-mile section of El Fuerte will have to wait a little while longer, the Carlsbad City Council narrowly decided Tuesday.

With council members Ann Kulchin and Mark Packard opposed, the council voted 3-2 to hold off on a decision for a few weeks to consider adding stop signs to the 1.86-mile route between Alga and Palomar Airport roads.

Several El Fuerte area residents said afterward that the council's vote, which came after an extended debate, wasn't a disappointment.

"It's better than a flat, outright 'no,' so we at least have a chance," said Mary Sarnecky, who lives at the corner of El Fuerte and Cacatua streets.

The residents want the council to set the speed limit at 35 mph, 10 mph lower than a recent city traffic study recommends. They also are asking for a series of stop signs at El Fuerte's intersections with Cacatua, Chorlito, Rancho Pancho and Unicornio streets.

A majority of the council appeared tempted Tuesday by the stop-sign idea, but because it wasn't included in the evening's meeting agenda, council members couldn't vote on the proposal. Mayor Bud Lewis then suggested waiting several weeks so the speed-limit and stop-sign proposals could be considered together.

His move was opposed by Packard, who said the council would be going against existing city policy if it decided to approve the stop signs in just a few weeks without doing a second, separate traffic study on them. Such a study would take several months, city traffic engineer Bob Johnson said.

Kulchin also opposed the mayor's proposal, arguing that the council should set the speed limit immediately because that would drop the area's speed limit from 55 mph to 45 mph. As an unsigned area, El Fuerte's current official speed limit is 55 mph.

But Lewis said it was hard to consider the speed limit without also looking at the stop-sign option, saying stop signs would "pacify" residents unhappy about the speed limit proposal.

The section of El Fuerte that would receive the speed limit can be divided into two parts. The northern end of the roadway -- the stretch between Palomar Airport Road and Poinsettia Lane -- is four lanes with sidewalks and a painted median. The southern end -- mostly from Rancho Pancho to Alga Road -- is a two-lane, hilly stretch without sidewalks.

The southern end failed to receive a posted speed limit years ago, so that is why it is being included in the speed-limit plans for the newly opened northern section, city officials have said.

People who live in the older area argued Tuesday that they shouldn't be lumped with the north, saying their portion of the roadway has problems that the north doesn't have, including aging pavement, hilly terrain and vehicle line-of-sight issues.

But the city's traffic engineer said the traffic study that recommends the 45-mph limit for both portions of the roadway looked into a wide range of factors, including accident history and current vehicle speeds on the roadway.

"It took into account all factors that should be considered," Johnson said.

Residents wanted to know why other portions of El Fuerte to the south have 35-mph and 25-mph speed limits. City officials said a school zone accounts for the 25-mph area. Meanwhile, Johnson said that the 35-mph area just south of Alga Road might be revised to 45 mph. Changes in state law now make it possible to increase the speed limit in areas that appear to have been set too low, he said.

-- Contact staff writer Barbara Henry at (760) 901-4072 or bhenry@nctimes.com.