ENCINITAS — The Encinitas City Council on Wednesday approved a $3.8 million paving contract and voted to keep existing striping on Birmingham Drive after residents opposed a proposed bike lane.
The contract was unanimously awarded to Quality Construction and Engineering, the lowest responsive bidder, as part of the city’s Pavement Management Program. According to city engineer Badr Suleiman, the contract includes the base bid and two additive alternates, with construction expected to begin in summer 2025.
“The recommended action tonight is to award the base bid … to the lowest responsive bidder in a total construction cost of $3.8 million,” Suleiman told the council.
However, the agenda item also included plans to restripe Birmingham Drive with a new eastbound, uphill bike lane, drawing strong opposition from several public speakers who raised concerns about safety and transparency.
“I find it disturbing that important restriping on an artery like this could be initiated more or less anonymously in a 400-page document on pavement maintenance,” said Ron Medak, speaking as a resident and commissioner on the Mobility and Traffic Safety Commission. “Birmingham is very dangerous … Liverpool (Drive), as somebody suggested, is a very good alternative, much less traffic.”
Several speakers, including representatives from Cardiff 101 Main Street and the Cardiff Town Council, argued that Birmingham’s narrow lanes and steep grade make it unsuitable for a bike lane.
“The proposed eastbound bike lane would remove approximately eight feet of roadway, about four feet from each side,” said Rahul Deshpande, a member of Cardiff 101 Main Street and chair of the Cardiff Town Council. “This would dangerously narrow the space available for vehicles, increasing the risk for both drivers and cyclists.”
Councilmember Jim O’Hara, who pulled the item from the consent calendar, agreed with the public’s concerns and said the proposed changes were not clearly conveyed in the staff report.
“I was really grateful that Cardiff Town Council and Cardiff 101 brought this to our attention that this had been changed from what I think we all read as restriping to mean stripping the same again,” O’Hara said. “To me, that line, that bike lane, just for the point of safety, doesn’t fit there.”
The council voted 3-0, with Deputy Mayor Joy Lyndes and Councilmember Luke Shaffer absent from the meeting, to approve the paving contract while amending the restriping portion of the plan to nix the uphill bike lane and keep the existing lane configuration on Birmingham Drive.
Lyndes is currently on family medical leave.
