Bird Rock Coastal Traffic Flow Improvement Project

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Bird Rock A Community Working Together
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A neighborhood divided

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Can this be Fixed?
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Initial Approach Focus on the Boulevard

• Problems
• Lack of Parking
• Drive-by Traffic too fast
• Solutions
• Reduce lanes from 4 to 2
• Diagonal Parking both Sides

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What did they forget?
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Community-Driven Process
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with lots of meetings
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Consensus on the Boulevard

• Speeding
• Difficulty of Parking
• Merchant Viability
• Community Identity
• Pedestrian Safety
• Connecting the community

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and on the side streets too.

• Speeding
• Cut-Through Traffic
• School Congestion
• Fix our problems first

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Now We Could Focus on Solutions
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Community Perceived Benefits of Roundabouts

• Aesthetic Landscaping
• Village Atmosphere
• Knit community together
• Walkability
• Traffic Calming Safety

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An Opportunity to Define an Identity
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Early community identity
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Giving the Neighborhood a choice
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Verifying Neighborhood Values
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Community Consensus
California Sea Coast Planting Photo-Simulation
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but how to pay for it?
With Community Financial Participation
Without
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Maintenance Assessment Districtstarts with a
Petition
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Successful MAD Petition Drive30 needed, 40
delivered
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The result, a true transformation.
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What you are up against

• My in-laws were an hour late because they got
  trapped in the roundabout.
• Limousines are avoiding the roundabouts and using
  the side street 3 blocks to the east.
• It is a conspiracy by developers to put the
  merchants out of business, depress land prices
  and convert it all to condos. And then the
  traffic will be re-routed off the boulevard to an
  adjacent street to the east.

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Perceptions Barriers to Acceptance

• Change is difficult.
• Commuters feel they are going slower.
• Forgotten how to YIELD.
• Dont trust fellow drivers.
• Difficult to educate commuters.
• Control by signage not by cooperation.

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In summary, lessons learned

• Need local champions.
• Engage the community early and often.
• Get agreement on the problems first.
• Empower the community with ownership of the
  process and the solutions.

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Thank you

• Joe LaCava
• President, Bird Rock Community Council
• President, La Jolla Community Planning Group
• jlacava_at_san.rr.com, 858.488.0160