CARLSBAD — The Carlsbad City Council unanimously approved adding all-way stop controls at three intersections throughout the city to improve safety for drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists.
The new traffic controls will be installed at Batiquitos Drive and Aviara Drive, La Costa Avenue and Camino De Los Coches, and Tamarack Avenue and Sunnyhill Drive.
The council approved the all-way stops in two separate unanimous votes at its June 23 meeting. Councilmember Melanie Burkholder recused herself from the discussion and vote regarding Tamarack Avenue and Sunnyhill Drive because she owns property nearby.
The intersection near Magnolia Elementary School and Carlsbad High School drew the most discussion after the Traffic Safety and Mobility Commission voted at its May 4 meeting not to support staff’s recommendation for an all-way stop.
City Traffic Commissioner Peter Kohl, who cast the commission’s lone vote in favor of the stop signs, urged the council to disregard the recommendation and approve the project.
Kohl said that after spending time at the intersection, he observed “extremely poor” sightlines and many drivers failing to yield to pedestrians at the flashing crosswalk. He added that many of his fellow commissioners’ objections to the stop signs were actually code enforcement issues, such as drivers not fully stopping at existing signs.
“Staff relies on facts,” Kohl said. “Commissioners, at times, make decisions based on emotions.”
The city first received a request for an all-way stop at the intersection of Tamarack Avenue and Sunnyhill Drive in September 2025, following a bicycle collision. According to the city’s engineering study, the intersection met the city’s adopted criteria for all-way stop control. Staff found that on a typical day, 162 bicyclists and 187 pedestrians use the intersection, many of them students traveling to and from the nearby schools.
John Kim, a city traffic engineer, said the recommendation was based on engineering data analyzed using established criteria.
The project is expected to cost about $30,000, largely because crews will remove the existing flashing beacons and raised crosswalk before installing the stop controls, according to city documents.
Mayor Keith Blackburn said residents had expressed concerns about vehicles bottoming out on the raised crosswalk and supported replacing it with stop signs.
“It’s clearly not working as it is now,” Councilmember Teresa Acosta said. “We have to make a change.”
Mayor Pro Tem Priya Bhat-Patel said she was “looking forward to the change” and receiving public feedback after the improvements are installed.
The council also approved all-way stops at Batiquitos Drive and Aviara Drive, and at La Costa Avenue and Camino De Los Coches, after city staff determined that both intersections met the engineering criteria for traffic control.
The Batiquitos Drive and Aviara Drive project is expected to cost about $10,000, while the La Costa Avenue and Camino De Los Coches project is estimated at $6,000.
City staff found that an average of 221 pedestrians cross the intersection at Batiquitos Drive and Aviara Drive each day. At La Costa Avenue and Camino De Los Coches, about 252 pedestrians and 115 bicyclists use the intersection daily.
Acosta said that, based on community feedback, “both have been issues for a long time” and that she had heard about several near misses.
