Encinitas Council Accepts Plan to Level Barrier, Add Speed Humps to Crest Drive

After six years of divisive debate, expensive studies and legal wrangling, the Crest Drive barrier is coming down.

The Encinitas City Council Wednesday night unanimously accepted a compromise worked out by area residents, which calls for construction of speed humps and the removal of the barricade, installed in 1988 to divert traffic off the street.

“After six years, this is monumental,” Councilwoman Gail Hano said.

The barrier is at the north end of Crest, where it meets Santa Fe Drive, one of the most-traveled roads in the area. For several years, Crest Drive residents had complained about commuters using the road as a high-speed short cut between Interstate 5 and the Village Park area to the east.

But opponents charged that the barrier, in effect, gave Crest residents a private street. In heated council debates, the Crest residents were accused of receiving special treatment from the city. No alternatives were considered, opponents alleged.

Leading the opposition were residents of Lake Drive, which runs parallel to Crest Drive about a quarter of a mile to the west. They complained that all the traffic was dumped onto their street because of the barrier.

Although studies showed that the barrier effectively eliminated traffic problems on Crest, the council made it clear earlier this year that it intended to remove it.

“I feel a diverter should only be used as a last resort,” Mayor Maura Wiegand said in June.

The agreement reached by residents calls for the barrier to come down in the first quarter of next year, after unrelated construction is completed on Lake Drive. Speed humps, a smaller version of speed bumps, will be installed on Crest and a speed limit of 25 m.p.h. will be posted.

Crest Drive residents will pay for the speed humps. As part of an 11-point first phase of the plan, two stop signs will also be installed on Crest, along with signs along area roads diverting traffic away from Crest and Lake. The second phase of the agreement calls for a traffic signal at the intersection of Santa Fe and Bonita drives “as soon as practical.”

“We’re not bubbling with joy, but it’s something we can live with,” said Ed Obermeyer, a spokesman for the Lake Drive residents. “We always wanted the barrier down.”

Neither side was enthusiastic about the deal, but they saw it as a way to put an end to the long-running debate.

“It’s one of those deals where everybody is unhappy,” Crest Drive resident Ron Grimes said before the meeting. “Everybody recognized that there had to be another way so we could get on with our lives.”

Going into the meeting, Grimes emphasized that he didn’t think there was any room for further negotiating.

“Both sides went to the last degree to solve this problem,” Grimes said. “In the process, both sides gave up much more than they thought they would give up.”

Twenty-eight requests to speak on the topic were filed for Wednesday night’s meeting; all of the speakers favored the agreement.

“Hopefully this will be the end of it,” said Bruce Babcock, one of the Lake Drive leaders. “What we are happy about is that a compromise has been reached.”

The council (with Councilwoman Pam Slater, a Crest Drive resident, abstaining) voiced no objection to the plan.

“The maturity level of the city has vastly improved,” Councilwoman Anne Omsted said.

The audience applauded and cheered when the final vote was taken.