CARLSBAD — The city will add new striping, signage, bicycle and pedestrian paths, and modified traffic signals among other improvements over the next several years to make traveling to and from Sage Creek High School safer for students.
City Council unanimously approved staff’s Safe Routes to School Plan for Sage Creek on July 22. The plan includes several improvements at the Cannon Road, Bobcat and College Boulevard intersection, which is directly next to the school, as well as further down the road at El Camino Real and Cannon Road.
This is the third SRTS plan in the city with more to come for other local schools.
“We feel very proud and confident that the plan before you this evening reflects the vision of safe routes to school in the last three plans presented to you,” associate engineer Nick Gorman told the council.
The proposal includes near-term solutions that will be completed within the next two years, long-term solutions within the next three to four years, and longer-term solutions that will be explored and potentially implemented approximately five years out or longer.
While most of Sage Creek High School’s approximately 1,400-student population use automobiles for drop-off and pickup, a significant number of students also walk and ride e-bikes to school. Gorman estimated about 120 students ride e-bikes to school on any given day.
In the near term, the city plans to update crosswalks at Bobcat Boulevard and the school’s driveway to enhance bicycle and pedestrian access to the school, move the existing bike route on campus that mixes with other vehicles to the existing sidewalk, which would separate bikes from cars, and widen bike lane buffers at the Bobcat/Cannon/College intersection.
Additionally, the city will add green striping through the intersection to improve visibility for bicyclists and pedestrians accessing the new path.
Councilmember Kevin Shin noted his biggest concern is the existing southbound College Boulevard route for students to take a left onto Bobcat Boulevard to access the school. Students who use the left-turn lane alongside other vehicles must cross four lanes of traffic to get over into the right-hand bicycle lane.
Gorman noted that some students “have gotten creative” by pressing the pedestrian crosswalk button to pause traffic in all directions so they can remain in the right-hand College Boulevard bike lane and cross all the way over to the Bobcat Boulevard bike lane as well.
“There’s no way to make that transition without the fear of looking behind you for vehicles,” Shin said. “That being said, the solution seems to be the green striping.”
In the long term, the city plans to modify signal timers at College and Cannon and add a shared two-way bike and pedestrian path on the north side of Bobcat Boulevard, which includes widening the sidewalk and consolidating paths of travel to one area to make things more predictable for drivers. These plans would also widen the northeast sidewalk for additional waiting space for pedestrians.
The city previously added a no-right-on-red sign at the College and Cannon right turn in 2020 and plans to add another one at the right-turn lane from Bobcat to College. Both signs will be updated to flashing signs that will illuminate when the crosswalk is in use as part of the plan.
A bike ramp will be installed on El Camino Real for bicyclists to mount the sidewalk and avoid mixing in with vehicles at the busy right turn onto Cannon Road. This solution would have bicyclists and pedestrians using the recently-installed pedestrian bridge to continue to the school.
Councilmember Melanie Burkholder said she was pleased to see the $4 million bridge used as part of the SRTS plan given its lack of overall use since it was installed in 2022.
“I’ve never seen anyone on it,” she said.
The city would also improve the existing path on the north side of the school to a concrete, shared two-way bike and pedestrian path on the east side of College Boulevard in the long term.
Both the near- and long-term solutions are estimated to cost $3.4 million to $3.8 million, with the striping and signing partially funded by a grant and the shared bicycle and pedestrian paths partially funded by the city’s sidewalk program.
Longer-term projects would include exploring opportunities to enhance unpaved sections of the Lake Calavera Trail and a shared two-way bike and pedestrian path on the south side of Cannon Road.
Mayor Pro Tem Priya Bhat-Patel said the improvements “will make a huge difference” for the school community. She stressed that drivers should still remain vigilant for pedestrians and bicyclists when near Sage Creek and other local schools.
“Please be mindful of how you’re driving, because our kids are paramount,” she said. “We have to be extremely careful around schools.”
