The Leucadia Blvd/Hwy101 intersection works better without the long red lights. It sure does need some new asphalt and fresh paint though.
After a week of flashing red lights the city has finally finished a temporary fix for Leucadia Blvd and Hwy101, the worst intersection on the coast highway.
It is my opinion, and I think a lot of people will agree, that the intersection flowed much more smoothly with the stoplights. Sure there was a little confusion, especially from the scowling woman in the black BMW SUV who tried to mow down a jogger and then crash into me, but it seemed like most drivers could grok the intersection as a 4 way stop. Normally, leaving Beacons beach and heading east takes an agonizing longtime and the traffic backs up way past Gary Murphy's house and the roadside park, but with the flashing reds there was no delay or backups.
It looked like the southbound traffic was flowing good, although I never saw it at peak rush hour. It seems like the southbound traffic has been staying on the I-5 for most of the summer ever since gas hit $4 bucks a gallon and more people started taking the Coaster train.
I think the Leucadia Blvd/Hwy101 intersection should stick with the flashing reds. What do you think?
This entire posting is not relevant, the lights are working now and that's the way it is......
ReplyDeleteDon't you have better things to do than stir up trouble??
It’s completely relevant. Just because something exists that is bad for the community, doesn't mean it that it can not be changed.
ReplyDeleteIf the intersection works better when in the "all stop mode" at Hwy 101 and Vulcan, then just flip the switch to an all red flashing mode. It wouldn't cost the city anything and everyone benefits from a more efficient traffic flow and safety standpoint.
I completely agree with JP and Gary Murphy.
As a test case, leave it on red flash mode for one week and see how it performs. If after a week, it performs well leave it for one month.
I predict improvements in every function.
Every time I have seen that intersection in the red flashing mode, it always works better. This last 4 days was no different. Why wouldn't the City want to see if it performed better in the red flashing mode?
If it does prove to function better as all way stops, the signals could eventually come down, saving the City big money on annual operation costs. Plus the area would look much nicer!
There is absolutely no cost or harm in trying it. Come on City, help out everyone and let’s give it a try!
I work at an office in downtown Encinitas, and most of my coworkers who live north take 101 south or get off I-5 at La Costa Bldv, then proceed on 101 south. I spoke to 2 such commuters, and they both said that the thru traffic on 101 flowed better during rush hour with the Leucadia signal in blinking red mode.
ReplyDeleteBlinking red signal lights + 90 mph trains + cars not able to clear railroad tracks with green signal = DEATH
ReplyDeleteI think it works better without the lights too. That might mean that roundabouts will work even better!
ReplyDeleteanon 4:18
ReplyDeleteYour hyped out. stop the meth.
IF IT WERE DANGEROUS THERE IS NO WAY OUR CITY WOULD HAVE ALLOWED THAT TO GO ON ALL WEEKEND!
Even RSPB wouldn't think they were so bad as to allow the RR crossing to get even more dangerous.
Going to the 101 from east of the 7-11 has never, never been easier than the few days when the traffic lights were screwed up.
ReplyDeleteCheck out radical traffic engineer Hans Monderm, turns out that at least one person believes that if you treat people like they have brains, they use them.
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/08/21/profile-of-hans-mond.html
The idea of traffic lights is more less that half the time you get to an intersection, you don't have to stop and idle. But of course as complex as the Leucadia Blvd portion is, the lights seem to be red way too long. I think the stop signs would improve traffic flow. And I think ideally, roundabouts keep people from stopping 80% of the time. But of course a roundabout would be tricky at Leucadia Blvd with a train figured into the equation. Hey, I got it. Bury the train!
ReplyDeletetry it for a test period of one week. Come on City, you only have positive to gain. that intersection sucks the way it is now.
ReplyDeleteGary Murphy is the man.
ReplyDeleteHe had the ball to go to Council and suggest this change. Way to go Gary.
Good idea for Leucadia and all of Encinitas.
Hey 4:18-
ReplyDeletethe gates still work with blinking red. No difference.
Your points are void. 90 mph trains would actually be better with all way stops. Everyone is better off.
do it City. Hurry and relieve that clusterfuck!
Apparently our European mother land folks have evolved faster than us American tards. We don't need lights to tell us when to slow or stop. A stop or a yield sign works fine.
ReplyDeleteCome on City, I know you can think outside the small American mind box. Let it go.... lets be free and try the all stop at the intersection. I know it will be better.
Click on rob70 link.... way funky in a good way.
ReplyDeleteWay to blog soul man.
good stuff.
Anon 11:30...
ReplyDeleteLawyers,
Lawyers,
Lawyers.
Europe does not share our "wealth" of lawyers looking for work.
I like the idea of a test period. Make it happen, please.
ReplyDeleteDon't have to look for work when so many public servants entrusted with our safety ignore death traps. Need I raise examples?
ReplyDeleteNo thanks Lawyer-
ReplyDeleteWe don't really look forward to paying your client millions for that one clusterfuck intersection.
I don't think you could have an easier case. The City has known about the death trap for over 20 years and does nothing. They actually made it worse by opening up Leucadia Boulevard to El Camino Real with out addressing the traffic impacts from that action. I was also right about then when the Coaster started up raising the train traffic 500% from 12 per day to 54 per day. I wonder if the City did an Environmental Impact Report for that project and what it said?
Yikes, this one is too easy. You should cut your fee down to client.
I’m surprised its been like over a year since someone has died at that deathtrap. By statistical standards I think the odds are pretty good you should have a client within 5 months. I hope its no one I know.
Well, there goes the millions needed for the Hall Park or any other project.
I wonder all the time why this clusterfuck isn't corrected. Who at the City is supposed to be looking out for issues involving the Railroad?
ha ha I saw Leroy Bogus down there watching a worker, and he looked totally befuddled. Our head of public works working hard at doing nothing.
ReplyDeleteI too would love to see a trial of flashing reds. It also makes it easier to turn right onto L101 from Jasper as people slow for the flashing reds.
ReplyDeleteRe scowling woman in the black BMW SUV - Yeah, just now I got honked at for obeying the pedestrian signal and letting a guy make it across. It seem to me if someone's time is soooo important the should NOT BE in a beach town on a Sunday afternoon.
rob70,
ReplyDeleteProblem. That is a small village. That is why people like small towns and a small town feel.
IT is completely DALAGER-THINK to believe that densifying Encinitas and adding MORE people will make us MORE small town.
I can not take enough LSD to fall for that.
Whoa - what happened to the last two blogs -- they just disappeared without explanation
ReplyDeleteThey got too blue, bordering on virtual molestation.
ReplyDeleteAnon, 3 back... HUH?
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying follow his advice and get rid of all our signs, just making the point that what you believe is correct, may not be, as in the case of the small town.
Oh, and at least come up with a clever name for yourself.
Ripe for another roundabout. I drove and walked roundabouts in rural and urban Italy this past July - roundabouts rule, even complicated ones! I plan my routes west to enjoy the tiny ones in Encinitas.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't Americans get it? Especially the "never, ever want to leave Paradise" Southern Californians (they might get cold or need shoes). Do they really need that much time to pick their noses or squeeze their zits while they idle away massive amounts of time and fuel, adding even more to the brown smog haze over the region?
A couple years ago I knitted nearly an entire hat for a Christmas gift while idling at the long & frequent light cycles around Encinitas, especially those two near Home Depot. I just left the hat in the car (on circular needles) and knitted in wasted, stagnant moments (never knitted while driving, of course), quickly dropping it to the side as the lights changed. At least that time was relatively productive.
I saw and appreciated that Gary Murphy spoke about this at the Council Meeting during oral communications.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Gary. A stop sign would be much better. The "proof is in the pudding." If you were present when the light was out, you would have seen that the intersection was functioning better as stop, look and go. I do not support a roundabout at that intersection.
Many people, the residents living nearby, spoke against the roundabout's effectiveness on Santa Fe at Thurdsay's Planning Commission Meeting re the Hall Property proposed park and the bogus environmental impact report without an updated traffic circulation element study included!
I can't agree with you more!
ReplyDeleteAnna, Anna, Bannana -- Italy has roundabouts so we should too! Ciao baby. Italians are the worst drivers in the ride-sided world, even the police are driving under the influence. La Dolce Vita baby.
ReplyDelete