Encinitas to consider three options for removing controversial Santa Fe Drive changes

Three options for reworking the controversial changes that narrowed Santa Fe Drive, added back-in parking and created separated bike lanes will go before the City Council Wednesday.

The special meeting, which is solely devoted to the Santa Fe Drive issue, is set to start at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 505 S. Vulcan Ave.

Backed with enthusiasm by the city’s Planning Commission in 2022 and then approved by a City Council whose membership has since mostly changed, the roadway project has faced controversy ever since construction began two years ago.

Opposition continued even after construction concluded earlier this year. Opponents have said the new 10-foot-wide vehicle lanes are too narrow for fire trucks to navigate; the back-in parking is far too difficult for high school students to use; and the separated bike lanes are hazardous and unnecessary.

In May, the City Council, in a 4-1 vote with Councilmember Joy Lyndes opposed, directed city planning staff to produce at least three options that would remove the more controversial elements of the project.

The area covered by the construction project starts just east of Interstate 5 at McKinnon Avenue, goes by the front of San Dieguito High School Academy, and continues eastward to Evergreen. A second, future project is planned for the eastern section of Santa Fe Drive from Evergreen to El Camino Real.

The construction project included new sidewalks and a mid-block pedestrian crosswalk. Two intersections — Nardo Road/MacKinnon Avenue and Bonita Drive/Windsor Road — were proposed to gain new traffic signal equipment and redesigned corners, but the City Council placed those items on hold in December as opposition to the roadway project grew.

In a report produced for Wednesday’s meeting, city planning staff list three possible alternatives for reworking the roadway. The three range in price from $2.8 million to $3.6 million, and all three options include $1.2 million for the previously eliminated intersection projects, plus $400,000 for a westbound bike lane east of Bonita Drive.

All three alternatives would expand the roadway lane widths generally from 10 feet to 11 feet, eliminate the painted roadway “sharrows” that allow faster cyclists to use the vehicle roadway lanes, and include a two-way, left-turn pocket, the staff report states.

The three options are:

Alternative A — The “Parallel Parking with Separated Bike Lane” choice calls for reducing the size of the new roadside planter boxes and keeping the existing, separated bike paths on both sides of Santa Fe Drive. Estimated to cost $2.9 million to $3.1 million, these proposed changes would leave the area with 41 to 45 parallel parking spaces.

Alternative B — The “Parallel Parking with Buffered Bike Lane” option calls for the full removal of the existing planter boxes and water quality basins, and the construction of a new planter parkway area. The separated, eastbound bike lane would be eliminated and replaced with a buffered bike lane along the roadway, but the westbound separated bike lane would “remain as is.” Estimated to cost $3.4 million to $3.6 million, this project would leave the area with 44 to 47 parallel parking spaces.

Alternative C — The “Head-in, Angled Parking with Separated Bike Lane” option calls for angled-in parking with reduced planter boxes and water quality basin curbs. Both the eastbound and westbound separated bike lanes would “remain as is.” Estimated to cost $2.8 million to $3 million, this project would leave the area with 50 to 52 head-in parking spaces.

To view designs showing what the three options would look like, visit: https://encinitas.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=7&event_id=5290&meta_id=194482