Turmoil Over Del Mar Traffic

An attempt to slow traffic along two of Del Mar’s busiest residential corridors by installing newfangled traffic islands, curbs and other obstacles in the drivers’ path has residents and city officials on a collision course.

Resident Al Carsten calls it a street plan straight from a cartoon sketch pad: narrow winding roads with intersections clogged by monster medians and big bending berms guaranteed to turn a trip to the grocery store into some hair-raising midway ride.

“It’s like something from Merry Melodies and Looney Tunes,” he said. “Then again, it’s what you’d expect from the Republic of Del Mar.”

But Ann Dempsey curbs such criticism. An originator of the plan, she’s tired of the short-cutters who hot-rod through her seaside neighborhood--misguided tourists and inlanders who blow off stop signs and speed warnings en route to the racetrack, beach and post office.

The city’s traffic control plan--based on a Seattle street scheme--is the best way to guarantee that both pedestrians and local drivers will be protected from speeders, she says.

Opponents, however, have labeled the idea as the latest attempt by the elitist little community to seal itself off from an unwashed outside world. And besides, they say, the obstacles will make the city’s already-narrow side streets impossible to maneuver in all but the smallest of cars.

Furthermore, say Al Carsten and wife Arlene--a former Del Mar mayor--residents were never given the opportunity to formally vote for such a drastic measure, which they claim will impede emergency vehicles, endanger pedestrians, choke off parking and lower property values.

Recently, the couple attempted to throw a road block into the city’s plans--launching an initiative to force officials to scrap what the Carstens call a short-sighted solution to the city’s traffic woes.

Their proposed ballot measure would pave the way for a comprehensive master plan on traffic management and pedestrian safety, as well as order officials to hold numerous public hearings on a citywide traffic-flow fix.

Arlene Carsten says there’s just not enough traffic to warrant such a drastic measure. Most vehicles already move at a crawl on the winding, hillside roads, and it’s insanity, she says, to build roadblocks where none are needed.

“The city is taking an amateur, piecemeal approach to a major problem,” said Arlene Carsten, who served on the City Council for three years before a stint as mayor in 1986.

“It’s the result of one lady’s idea, someone with the time to turn this into a crusade. Not in my wildest dreams did I believe the council would support such a thing.”

City officials deny their approach is knee-jerk. The $200,000 project, which would begin this summer if a move to solicit construction bids is approved next month, could eventually serve as a model traffic plan for the entire city, they say.

Under the plan, 15 residential intersections that officials say have become part of a shortcut to bypass busy Camino Del Mar--the city’s main commercial drag--will be narrowed and restricted by choke points.

The idea, they say, is to force vehicles to weave around islands and street-side berms--often making 90-degree turns--as a way to slow traffic and make it safer for pedestrians.

Some intersections require vehicles to swerve around one berm to another traffic island into a narrow, 11-foot wide lane. Selected sites include sections of Crest Road, Stratford Court, Via Alta and Forest Way.

City officials say the time to act is now, since eastward development is rampant and the number of Interstate 5 shortcutters will only increase. Already, officials report receiving many calls from residents asking why their street wasn’t included in the current plan.

“This is no overnight solution,” said Del Mar Mayor Jan McMillan. “The city has worked on this concept for three years. And the people who have pressed for it have worked on it for 10 years, maybe more.

“We wouldn’t do anything that wouldn’t increase vehicular and pedestrian safety. Our role as public officials is to help people, not hurt them.”

Assistant City Manager John Bahorski said the project has inspired countless public meetings and workshops. “This has been the most reviewed project in Del Mar history,” he said.

“We’ve had input from just about every expert we could think of--the public included. We’re satisfied this is what Del Mar wants.”

City officials acknowledge, however, that at least one architectural firm refused to submit a bid on the project because of liability problems perceived with the traffic obstructions.

In December, officials chalked off proposed intersections and sponsored a test run involving a city fire engine and 40-foot-long school bus.

After the fire truck was severely slowed and the bus was unable to negotiate several intersections, engineers revamped traffic controls there--a process McMillan says the city will continue to utilize with problem intersections even after the project is completed.

Del Mar Fire Chief Larrick Jones said he is now convinced that his equipment will have little difficulty negotiating streets in an emergency. “Let me put it this way,” he said. “With the modifications they made, our fire trucks can get through with minimal delays, maybe 30 seconds.”

But Jones concedes that he harbored some concern over the project. “I’m always concerned about obstacles,” he said. “But I made some comments to citizens in the past and got my tail rung (by city officials). So, no comment.”

Dempsey, whose efforts spearheaded interest in the plan, insisted that Del Mar is not elitist in its efforts to slow traffic.

“People were going too fast,” she said. “We’re not trying to keep people out. We’re just trying to slow them down. This is about quality of life in Del Mar.”

Dempsey said she started organizing meetings in 1986 to discuss the speeding problem. In the past, planners considered such alternatives as speed bumps, buttons and barriers, road dips, gates and even closing several streets to traffic.

For two years, motorcycle policemen patroled the route. In the end, organizers--after meeting with Seattle’s traffic designer--decided on a traffic island plan modeled on that city’s.

Now, they’re calling their plan the Seattle Solution.

“The islands drop accident rates by 95% and even drive up property values by beautifying the neighborhood,” Dempsey said. “They do the job.”

After a suggestion by Dempsey, San Diego traffic officials installed similar islands and berms at two intersections on Crest Way, which feeds into Del Mar’s Crest Road, said Dino Ciafre, assistant San Diego traffic engineer.

He said traffic has been slowed on the 40-foot-wide street but would not comment on whether such a plan would work on Del Mar’s narrower roads.

Recently, a sign in one of the intersections was sprayed with a graffiti message that read “Malibu Grand Prix,” an apparent reference to the swerving required to pass through the area.

The Carstens say their plan already has wide public support. A petition circulated last fall garnered more than 190 signatures, and more residents have since jumped onto the bandwagon.

City officials say the Carsten initiative will receive due consideration, and a special election could be even called if enough signatures are gathered.

But Arlene Carsten says she knows better. “When I became mayor, I never dreamt things would work in a city like they do here,” she said. “There’s just too many people with agendas and a lot of time to pursue them.”

Meanwhile, Al Carsten has nightmares of negotiating his big Lincoln Continental around choke points throughout his wealthy neighborhood. He dreams of glancing away for a single moment at some runaway cat and smacking head-on into a traffic island placed in his path.

“It’s just a mess,” he said. “It’s wacko. It’s Del Mar.”