Council Calls for Solutions to Traffic Congestion

Reacting to growing motorist frustration over traffic congestion, the San Diego City Council on Monday instructed planners to draw up a list of proposals designed to decrease rush-hour traffic and increase the number of commuters in each car traveling to and from downtown.

The council also ordered City Manager John Lockwood to study the feasibility of a citywide experiment involving staggered work hours to be conducted during a week in October.

Both actions, which were approved by 7-0 votes, with Councilwomen Abbe Wolfsheimer and Gloria McColl absent, will be presented to the council June 6.

The decisions came after Councilman Bob Filner reacted angrily to a staff proposal that the city hire a consultant to study traffic management. Filner said volumes of information already exist and that another study would needlessly delay council action on the congestion. The council postponed a decision on hiring a consultant.

Filner’s colleagues joined him in voicing frustration over tie-ups on city freeways, and demanded that the city staff quickly bring the council a report on various traffic management proposals and their costs. Downtown employers will be asked to participate at the June 6 council meeting.

“Everybody out there is coming in at one person per car, and that is one of the primary causes of the congestion that we’re seeing,” said Councilman Ron Roberts.

Kristi Berg, a senior traffic engineer with the city, said each vehicle entering and leaving downtown contains an average of fewer than 1.1 occupants during rush hour.

According to the San Diego Assn. of Governments, 190,720 private vehicles are driven into the city center each day. By the year 2010, it is estimated, 264,162 cars will arrive each day. However, PRC Engineering Inc., in a May, 1985, report for the city, said 286,000 vehicles already travel into downtown every day.

Councilman Bruce Henderson proposed the staggered-work-hour experiment, likening it to a “Great American Smoke-Out” for transportation, a reference to the annual stop-smoking effort.

“Let’s experiment with San Diego,” Henderson said. “We know what needs to be done. Let’s just get out and do it.”