ENCINITAS — The Encinitas City Council has directed staff to implement roadway changes along Saxony Road to slow traffic and improve safety, advancing a long-debated effort to address congestion, speeding and pedestrian concerns near the Ecke YMCA and senior living and specialized medical care communities.
The plan calls for installing an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant four-way stop intersection with crosswalks on Saxony Road at the northern entrance to the YMCA, to the west, and the entrance to Seacrest Village Retirement Communities, to the east, according to city documents.
The proposal also includes removing an existing chicane north of the intersection.
Deputy Mayor Jim O’Hara introduced the idea at the Jan. 28 City Council meeting, before the council unanimously voted to direct staff to move forward with the design.
O’Hara said safety concerns were raised during a meeting with representatives from the YMCA, Seacrest Village and nearby residents, many of whom described long delays, speeding traffic and risky pedestrian crossings.
“In the past 20 years, Saxony Road has evolved from a lightly-traveled, rural road to a busy, local thoroughfare and even a cut-through,” O’Hara said.
City staff highlighted those concerns in a background report, noting that Saxony Road now experiences heavy peak-time congestion tied to youth sports, swim programs and community events at the YMCA and Paul Ecke Sports Park.
Limited turn lanes, multiple high-traffic driveways and inconsistent pedestrian infrastructure have created pinch points, particularly during after-school hours and weekends.
O’Hara said the proposed changes are intended to address congestion during peak hours while improving pedestrian and cyclist safety.
“What we’re looking to do is make it safer for pedestrians specifically and also to slow traffic down and create less of a cut-through street for Saxony,” he said.
The chicane (S-shaped curve in the roadway) slated for removal was installed as a quick traffic-calming measure, but staff said it has not reduced speeds and can create visibility and maneuvering challenges.
Over the years, the city has explored a range of options, including more chicanes, signage and enhanced pedestrian crossings, as Saxony Road shifted from a rural route to a neighborhood connector.
In a letter submitted to the city ahead of the meeting, the Ecke YMCA formally endorsed the council’s direction, calling the four-way stop the preferred solution after years of discussion.
“With original traffic calming conversations over the years, the desire for a four-way stop was at the top of the list, but traffic engineers shared it wasn’t possible on Saxony for a variety of reasons,” the letter stated. “After seeing the stop signs at the Union Street and Saxony Road intersection, we learned four-way stops are indeed possible on Saxony after all.”
The YMCA also criticized the existing chicane, describing it as “dangerously integrat[ing] two cars almost head-on at the peak of the swerve,” and said it was “not the ideal design.”
“The proposal of a four-way stop would be optimal for the YMCA/Paul Ecke Sports Park (north) entrance,” the letter continues, citing conflicts with the driveway across the street serving the Silverado medical building. “There have been elderly and teenage staff exiting that driveway who have endured car accidents over the last few years because of blind spots and higher speeds turning left out of the parking lot.”
Mayor Bruce Ehlers said slowing traffic with stop signs, as was done on Rancho Santa Fe Road, can deter commuters from cutting through residential areas.
“People went back to I-5 where they belong,” Ehlers said. “I am all for well-done traffic calming that is well-implemented. I think this [the chicane on Saxony Road] is marginally designed and marginally implemented, and it’s not doing what it was intended, so I support removing it.”
Councilmember Luke Shaffer said he supported the specific plan as an interim solution as the city works toward a more comprehensive mobility plan.
City Manager Jennifer Campbell said the proposal does not include rectangular rapid flashing beacons because those devices are not allowed at stop-controlled intersections under city guidelines, even though they were discussed earlier in the process.
During public comment, Traffic Commissioner Ron Medak, an Olivenhain resident and cyclist, said the oblique angles of the chicane can create hazards for bicyclists and fail to deter speeding.
“It was just a little bit of a squiggle,” Medak said. “If somebody wanted to get through quickly, they would just turn their wheel a little bit and go straight through there.”
Jane Best, who lives nearby, told the council she has waited up to 10 minutes to make a left turn onto Saxony Road due to fast-moving traffic.
“It’s become a highway,” Best said. “Saxony Road is now a highway and it’s dangerous and it was bumper to bumper. It was like being on I-5.”
City staff said the action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act because it involves administrative design work that would not result in a physical environmental change, and that the project carries no fiscal impact.
