Encinitas council divided on traffic calming, street safety measures

ENCINITAS — The Encinitas City Council remains split on how best to improve street safety and chose to preserve its options during its Aug. 27 meeting.

Deputy Mayor Joy Lyndes said she had hoped to pass a resolution affirming the city’s commitment to safe streets, especially in light of public concerns. The resolution never reached a vote because it did not receive a second.

Lyndes cited the city’s 2024 Encinitas Traffic Management Program and the 2018 Active Transportation Plan as examples of efforts that favored traffic-calming measures.

“I’m putting forward this resolution tonight to continue to move in the direction of promoting traffic calming as one of the ways that we continue to create safe streets in our community,” Lyndes said.

She added that the item stemmed from community concerns about road safety, reflected in persistent public comments at council meetings.

Residents offered mixed feedback. Some urged the council to reaffirm its commitment to traffic calming, including several wearing shirts honoring Emery Chalekian, a 12-year-old fatally struck in a crosswalk at Encinitas Boulevard and Village Square Drive.

Others argued that certain measures — such as those on Santa Fe Drive — have created more dangerous conditions and could hinder traffic flow, especially in emergencies.

Councilmember Jim O’Hara said he considered the resolution too narrow and redundant to other citywide safety efforts.

“This initiated item is really a wolf in sheep’s clothing designed to handcuff the council on matters going forward,” O’Hara said.

Councilmember Luke Shaffer said a citywide traffic study would help reconcile differing perspectives and better identify needs. He highlighted his past advocacy for routes that allow students to travel between schools, parks, and beaches with less than 5% of the journey on major thoroughfares.

Shaffer described his preference as “quiet streets, big boulevards.”

“We’re not seeing where people need to flow or could go,” Shaffer said. “It’s a tale as old as the car. It really is and I want to fix it.”

Mayor Bruce Ehlers said the agenda item was “very well timed with [State Sen.] Catherine Blakespear’s press conference” the previous Saturday and suggested Lyndes was really referring to the Santa Fe Drive project.

“Traffic calming is a good thing — I support it. I have supported it,” Ehlers said. “Bad design, poorly designed traffic calming — I do not support. And that’s what we’re talking about.”