La Jolla and Pacific Beach residents form united front for speed reduction

La Jolla residents often have separately expressed their concerns about speeding in their neighborhoods during local planning group meetings, but a recent letter to San Diego city officials saw them funnel their speed-reduction requests into one unified message.

The letter, sent to City Council President Joe LaCava and city staff Dec. 5, is the product of a coalition of seven neighborhood groups spanning La Jolla and Pacific Beach. The roster includes Respect Bird Rock, Nautilus Neighbors, La Jolla Shores Heights Committee and Safe & Beautiful Torrey Pines Road.

The coalition specifically focused on Assembly Bill 43, a 2022 state law that gives cities wider discretion to reduce speed limits for a variety of reasons.

Speed limits can be lowered if an area is deemed a business activity district (in which half the area is composed of dining and retail establishments), a pedestrian/cyclist corridor (where many people get around by foot or on bikes) or a safety corridor (where many senior citizens, children or homeless people reside).

Advocates are pushing city staff to designate LaCava’s District 1, which includes La Jolla and Pacific Beach, as an area in need of speed limit ordinances. A list of “key corridors” identified in the letter includes routes “that serve as school connectors, commuter cut-throughs and major thoroughfares where current speeds are incompatible with the residential and mixed-use nature of the areas.”

The La Jolla routes listed in the letter are:

• Nautilus Street between La Jolla Scenic Drive South and West Muirlands Drive

• La Jolla Boulevard between Pearl Street and Camino de la Costa and between Colima Street and Mission Boulevard

• Dunaway Drive, Prestwick Drive and Calle del Oro

• Torrey Pines Road between Prospect Place and La Jolla Shores Drive

“Key corridors” in neighboring Pacific Beach include Jewel, Diamond, Haines and Van Nuys streets.

Lower speed limits aren’t the residents’ only proposed solution, however.

“While lower speed limits are a crucial first step, they must not preclude the implementation of other essential design or quick-build elements to ensure comprehensive safety,” the letter states.

“Physical traffic-calming measures such as pedestrian refuge islands, curb extensions and road diets are necessary to reinforce the posted speed limit with enforcement and create a street environment that is inherently safe by design.”

‘Build consensus’

LaCava told the La Jolla Light that he had reviewed the letter and that the city will consider “a major expansion of AB 43 reductions in early 2026.”

“The letter identified streets that might benefit from a reduction in the posted speed limit while others might be better served by traffic-calming measures,” LaCava said. “We encourage proponents to connect with their respective community planning groups and build consensus on solutions.”

Building consensus is a key aspect of the letter.

It is co-signed by several residents who have shared their speeding concerns at La Jolla Traffic & Transportation Board meetings over the past year, including Francis Costello and Mira Sanchez Costello, Richard Stennes and Laura Eaton. A key organizing force behind the letter was Harry Bubbins, a leader of Respect Bird Rock and a trustee of the La Jolla Community Planning Association.

“This was a truly grassroots effort bringing together so many stakeholders,” Bubbins said. “Concerns shared among neighbors in the community and Tourmaline Beach found common ground through the great leadership of the La Jolla Community Planning Association’s Transportation Committee.

“This fusion of on-the-ground energy, committee leadership and community media is what unified our voices into a single strong message.”

Stake in speeding issues

Residents have used many terms at T&T meetings to describe speeding on their streets, from “absolutely out of control” and “disturbing” to “like a death trap.”

Stennes, a resident of Calle del Oro, told the Light that speeding on his street is “really dramatic,” with drivers often exceeding 50-55 mph. The longtime emergency physician said his primary concern is accidents involving children.

“That was the most difficult thing I think I dealt with in my 50 years in the emergency department,” he said.

Several possible solutions have been floated at T&T meetings, including improved signs, bike lane barriers, rumble strips and heightened enforcement. But seemingly, the measure most advocated is lower speed limits.

“There are many unsafe streets in La Jolla,” said Eaton, who has rallied neighborhood support to reduce speeds on Prestwick Drive in La Jolla Shores. “Working together with other neighborhoods sends a strong message to the City Council that prioritizing speed reduction and other safety measures are imperative.”

Francis Costello, a spokesman for his neighbors on Nautilus Street, said he doesn’t know what will be the most effective line to the city due to the complexity of setting or adjusting speed limits. But he feels broad-based action is likely the best way to get the message across.

— San Diego Union-Tribune staff writer David Garrick contributed to this report.