The Fundamental Streetscape Problem That Won’t Go Away
Long, long ago, if the California Southern Railroad and the early residents of Leucadia had put the tracks and Vulcan Avenue farther east, we wouldn’t have the space problem we have today.
If the planners, surveyors, land owners and concerned citizens had allowed enough room west of the tracks for a commercial zone and parking on the east side of 101, a wider highway and a wider commercial zone on the west side, we wouldn’t be in our unbalanced, squeezed pickle.
We’re stuck with a too-narrow corridor. East to west, it packs Vulcan, the railroad right-of-way, Highway 101 and its median, parallel parking, a sidewalk and a skinny commercial zone into far too little horizontal space.
The Encinitas City Council and the Coastal Mobility & Livability Working Group have said they want the Coastal Rail Trail between Vulcan and the tracks. NCTD won’t say where the Coastal Rail Trail or the second set of tracks will go. NCTD has not yielded the ground for Streetscape’s proposed roundabouts or parking bays.
The Cardiff Coastal Rail trail ranges from 13 to 17 feet wide. For nearly its whole length, the NCTD right-of-way between La Costa Avenue and Encinitas Boulevard is 100 feet wide.
Parking capacity in the Leucadia 101 corridor is woefully low. To equal Solana Beach’s parking capacity, Leucadia 101 would have to add 2,700 spaces. Unless parking goes underground or into two-story garages on the west side of 101, the only place to add the needed spaces is in the NCTD right-of-way between the tracks and the highway.
Leucadia 101 Streetscape’s net gain in parking spaces would be 134. It would add no access from the east and wouldn’t improve what’s already there. The project would restrict driving on 101 and slow transit time by shrinking the highway to two lanes and stuffing its north end with roundabouts. Most visitors enter the corridor from the north. Streetscape would make that entry much harder and would cause more traffic jams. The jams would be single file, so they would double in distance and time compared to the current two-lane jams. Greenhouse gas emissions would also double.
Let’s address the problem that won’t go away. Let’s use the width we have to everybody’s advantage: Coastal Rail Trail and parking between the tracks and Vulcan. Second set of tracks wherever they fit. Parking in the NCTD right-of-way west of the tracks through the whole corridor. Four-lane highway. Blinking crosswalks every one or two blocks, depending on activity. Medians where there are none. No street parking on the west side of 101. Sidewalk on the west side. Bike lanes both ways. Three ped/bike rail crossings north of Leucadia Boulevard and three south.
If implemented, the proposed Streetscape plan will be a nightmare. Let’s avoid that.
