HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-03-23; City Council; 15113; Speeding On Levante Street- -
CITY OF CARLSBAD - AGEWA BILL
AB# If //3 m:
MTG. 3/a/7 ? Request to Hear Citizen Concerns Regarding
Speeding on Levante Street
DEPT. CM
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Receive presentation from citizen group regarding residential speeding.
Pa 0 rl
DEPT. HD.
CITY ATTY.
CITY MGR-+
ITEM EXPLANATION:
The City Council provides an opportunity for citizens and organizations to have an item
placed on a City Council Agenda by submitting a letter to the City Manager. Exhibit 1 is a
letter from Mark & Robin Burns, Desi & Traci Gamboa, Meg & Bobby Klander, Harve and
Letty Meskin, Sergio & Terry Messina, and Dave & Marin Roberts.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None
EXHIBITS:
1. Letter from residents
March 4,1999
Ray Patchett
City Manager
Carlsbad City Hall
1200 Carlsbad Village Dr.
Carlsbad, CA 92008
Dear Mr Patchett:
We, a concerned citizen’s group of La Costa, have been meeting for the past four months to
discuss the problem of excessive speed on Levante Street. Levante is a”drag strip”
approximately 1.6 miles long, 40 feet wide with one lane of traffic in both directions. This is a
residential street who’s speed limit is posted as 25 mph. This is a residential neighborhood that
allows parking on both sides of the street.
Cars commonly travel on this street at rates which exceed 40 mph. This street is a very busy
pedestrian thoroughfare with people of all age: jogging, walking, riding bicycles and
skateboards, traveling in golf carts and children playing in their front yards or walking to and
from school.
Briefly stated, our concerns about this chronic cpeeding are:
. The danger that this represents to the large number of young families with small children
. The danger to the many seniors who walk this street for exercise
. The high number of children who use this street to go to and from La Cost Heights
Elementary School. . The fact that there are only two stop signs and three speed postings
. Several of the cross streets are without any stop signs at all.
We as neighbors have attempted to self police this problem by posting home made signs
reminding people to slow down, some have put orange cones in the street while others have
resorted to yelling and waving to motorists to r’ow their speed. Some people have passed out
hand bills encouraging us to be more aware of the danger that speeding on this street presents.
None of these independent efforts have proved effective.
As a group we have contacted the City traffic department requesting more law enforcement in the
area. We were told that resources do not exist .:-id were not available to remedy this problem.
We invited Jim Murray a streets engineer with the City of Carlsbad to discuss the options we
have to address this problem. We appreciated his input and found him to be very helpful.
As a result of that meeting, we contacted Sargent Kelly Cain of the Carlsbad Police, Traffic
Division. He accepted our request for monitoring of the street to document the problem. On
two occasions he had the speed trailer set up on the street and in January had some of the senior
volunteers monitor the speed with radar guns. The results indicated that the majority of the
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drivers on Levante proceed at speed of 35 mph or less. Many, however, were found to drive at
speed in the high 40’s and low 50’s. We, as individuals, have seen dozens of instances of people
driving in excess of 55 mph at all hours of the day and night. The conclusion is that most people
attempt to drive at safe speeds while significar: numbers do not.
One of the greatest causes for concern that we have is that the elementary school dismisses
classes at 2:30 pm. This is shortly before La Costa Canyon High School closes. Levante Street
is a major thoroughfare for the exuberant, speeding high school students making their way home
at about the time the elementary students are waiking on the street or are traveling home on bikes
and skateboards. These streets are lined with parked cars, delivery trucks, landscaper and
construction vehicles, RV’s, trailers and etc. This is a dangerous situation, which up until this
point, has only been an accident waiting to happen. The two little girls who were killed in the
South Bay last month serves as a reminder of the daily danger we face.
akened on summer nights by the roti of drag racers speeding down the street.
e problem is not one of young drivers on a Saturday night. Parents in
their kids to school, speed. So do people on their way to work. Adults are
seen even more quently than teens driving at excessive speeds on a daily basis. Even school
rvice vehicles fail to ;,*ive within the posted speeds. This neighborhood
is also about to impacted by the large development of the Villages of La Costa homes. Many
use our streets as a back enterence to get to their homes. We do not even
the corners of the streets which feed into Levante from this new area.
are limited to th
er informed us that the Lity Council will not use speed bumps to control
area. Stop signs cannot be used for this purpose. Therefore, our options
nstruction of systematic diverters which force people to maintain a safe speed
We would like t rsonally share our concerns with the City Council during one of their regular
u please see to it that we are placed on an upcoming agenda so that we may
directly to the Council.
Mark & Robin Burns
Desi & Traci Gamboa
Meg & Bobby Klander
Harve & Letty Meskin
Sergio & Terry Messina
Dave & Marin Roberts
Please reply to:
Harve Meskin
2733 Levante St.
Carlsbad, CA 92009-S 12 1
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