Despite a negative vote from the La Jolla Shores Association, a proposal to install a crosswalk on Via Capri is proceeding to the La Jolla Traffic & Transportation Board for consideration.
The proposal, launched by residents and discussed during the April 10 LJSA meeting, is to install a crosswalk and stop signs at Via Capri and Via Siena.
“We have too many safety incidents on Via Capri,” said resident Remi Raphael, who has been shepherding the project. “I started documenting some of these a year ago. … The most recent one happened six days ago.”
He said there have been multi-vehicle accidents and near crashes involving pedestrians.
“It’s really a concern for all of us that live on the street and for the people that are visiting La Jolla and take this route to Mount Soledad park,” Raphael said.
A petition circulated among residents collected 36 in-person signatures and 100 online, he said.
“There are no crosswalks for those that want to get to the other side of the road, and it’s a really dangerous road,” Raphael said. “It’s hard to cross that street … it means dodging traffic.” He noted there are no crosswalks on 1.4 miles of the street.
The proposed stop signs are needed because, without them, there could be a false sense of security for people using the crosswalk, he said.
However, many people at the meeting stated opposition to the idea.
LJSA board member Karen Marshall said there are stop signs in her neighborhood but “no one stops” at them. “They aren’t effective,” she said.
Via Capri resident Ross Rudolph said he’s against the proposal because “there are no sidewalks, no place to go, so I think a crosswalk would be inappropriate. … I think this is a bad idea.”
Project proponent Sven Zabka responded that “there are a number of people that walk Via Capri as a pedestrian walk. … There is quite a bit of foot traffic despite there not being sidewalks.”
LJSA board member Cindy Goodman said “there is no question that the street is dangerous [because] cars come zooming down … but I’m not sure adding a crosswalk for people to cross without sidewalks [is the right thing].”
However, she stated her for the proposed stop signs.
Fellow board member Kathleen Neil argued for a crosswalk with a pedestrian-activated signal rather than a stop sign. “A stop sign won’t get you where you want to go, but something else might do the trick,” she said.
In exploring whether to propose the crosswalk, Raphael said ers considered other options as well, including building sidewalks and/or installing speed bumps. However, because of the cost and potential environmental impacts, construction of sidewalks was not considered feasible. Speed humps or bumps also were eliminated because of the grade of the street. Thus, proponents chose the crosswalk and stop signs.
But LJSA board member and T&T Board Chairman Brian Earley said any location where a stop sign is proposed must undergo a traffic study. When the Via Capri/Via Siena location was studied, he said, “it came up very short” of the criteria and was not recommended for traffic calming by the city of San Diego.
A motion to endorse the idea failed 8-4, with LJSA board Goodman, Mary Coakley Munk and Claudia Baranowski abstaining because they wanted more information from the city about why the location was not recommended.
Despite the vote, the project ers intend to present to the Traffic & Transportation Board in coming weeks. ◆
