Bird Rock residents seeking to lower the 35 mph speed limit on La Jolla Boulevard between Pacific Beach and Bird Rock were warmly received when they pled their case on Sept. 21 before the La Jolla Traffic and Transportation Board.
“Tell us about the need to reduce that speed and this petition you’ve got,” asked La Jolla Traffic and Transportation Board chair Brian Earley of Harry Bubbins, spokesperson for Respect Bird Rock, a local volunteer group that has launched an online petition drive to lower the speed limit on a dangerous section of La Jolla Boulevard.
Earley noted La Jolla Traffic and Transportation Board is a joint committee with La Jolla Community Planning Association, the community’s land-use advisory group to the City. La Jolla Traffic and Transportation Board considers all proposals affecting La Jolla streets and parking including curb-color changes, time limits, and valet permits, as well as considering traffic control and street closures for special events.
Responding to Earley, Bubbins replied: “Thirty-five (mph) is too fast. It comes from a mischaracterization of La Jolla Boulevard being a four-lane boulevard; it’s not really.”
Bubbins pointed out Turquoise and Loring streets feeding into La Jolla Boulevard are both 25 mph. “But for some reason, cars speed through La Jolla Boulevard near Tourmaline Park, a world-class surf destination, which is 35 mph,” he said. “There are no stop signs or traffic lights, just these kinds of pedestrian lights where you click and hope for the best. It’s faster than any other road going into La Jolla Boulevard anywhere else.”
Added Bubbins: “The second issue is, [speed limits] are very inconsistent. From City data, there have actually been 250 collisions reported on La Jolla Boulevard, and there was a tragic death earlier this year. This is just what has been reported.”
Bubbins noted Respect Bird Rock has “a lot of supporters,” while adding that “over 100 people have signed our petition. We’re really grateful that you’re looking into this issue.”
Earley gave his own slideshow presentation showing the section of La Jolla Boulevard in question. It depicted the two-lane road coming out of Pacific Beach, wherein he noted, “You’ve got various speed limits coming out of Pacific Beach, then it transfers over to one lane and then, boom, 35 miles an hour.”
Earley suggested prior traffic studies have probably set this speed at 35 miles an hour because that was the average of the 85th percentile of people traveling. “That’s why the speeds down south in PB are 25 or 30,” he concluded. “Either way, I would agree that 35 (mph) is a little much. That seems a little dangerous. I think (at least) additional signage is needed with lots of people living in duplexes and apartments around here.”
Barbara Dunbar, a member of Bird Rock Community Council, pointed out that a 15 mph speed limit sign, which was located within this problematic stretch of La Jolla Boulevard, “was wiped out some time ago and has not been replaced and needs to be replaced. It indicates there is a roundabout coming up, and that the speed limit in the roundabout will be 15 mph.”
Bubbins said Respect Bird Rock was not advocating for uniformly reducing the speed limit on La Jolla Boulevard through Bird Rock down from 35 to 20 mph. “We don’t want to create discord,” he said. “We just want to say it needs to be lower.”
Bubbins has presented the case for lowering La Jolla Boulevard’s speed limit previously to Bird Rock Community Council, and also intends to present it soon to Pacific Beach Town Council.
