The City Council voted Tuesday to move forward with the preliminary engineering design and environmental studies for a segment of College Boulevard that would connect the roadway between El Camino Real and Cannon Road. This initial work will allow the city to develop a cost estimate for construction and further study funding options.
The road segment is not scheduled to be built at this time. That’s because under the city’s Growth Management Program, money from residential developer fees helps fund the infrastructure needed to support the corresponding increase in population, and most of the adjacent properties don’t have active development plans.
However, due to concerns about traffic in this area of El Camino Real, and the fact that not all landowners in the area are planning to develop soon, the city decided to fund the preliminary design of the road now to further study funding options.
The $1.92 million contract approved Aug. 17 includes:
Land use review and surveying
Preliminary environmental impact and mitigation assessment
Condemnation, right-of-way verification and land acquisition
Preliminary hydraulic and hydrological studies, geotechnical engineering investigation, traffic studies and civil engineering plans
Development of preliminary construction cost estimates.
The work is expected to take a little over two years, with an estimated completion in late 2023. Residents in the area and passersby might see people in the area doing survey work and other activities needed to complete the preliminary design and environmental analysis.
Background
College Boulevard is a major north-south artery stretching from Carlsbad’s industrial area north to state routes 78 and 76 in Oceanside. The missing link is a 1.5-mile section through an undeveloped area in Carlsbad between Cannon Road and Sunny Creek Road, just east of El Camino Real.
Completing that section will ease congestion on nearby roads, reducing travel times and greenhouse gas emissions. The design for the road will utilize complete streets concepts outlined in the city’s General Plan Mobility Element. Under the plan, street design considers all modes of transportation, not just cars.
The road extension, which the city’s General Plan calls the College Boulevard Reach A, has been planned for years, but completing it has been complicated by several factors, including funding. Carlsbad requires road improvement projects like this to have costs shared by property owners as they develop their land.
Up to 20 property owners hold land in the area around the missing link, but few currently have plans for development. Meanwhile, traffic is already exceeding the city’s standards on nearby El Camino Real and Cannon Road.
In May 2020, the City Council directed city staff to pursue a city-led financing program for construction of a four-lane extension of College Boulevard, including undertaking preliminary design and engineering work.
Next steps
With the agreement approved Tuesday by the City Council, city staff will issue a purchase order and a notice to proceed with Chen Ryan Associates Inc., the company leading the work, for the project’s preliminary engineering design and environmental studies.
A series of public meetings will be held to gather input from residents and other stakeholders on the scope and content of the proposed project. That feedback will help guide the preparation of an environmental impact report.
A draft of the environmental report will be presented to the public and open to a 45-day public review. After input is incorporated and any necessary revisions are complete, the final draft will be presented to the City Council for approval in 2023.
Learn more
Read the staff report for the Aug. 17 City Council meeting
Scott Lyle, Senior Engineer
scott.lyle@carlsbadca.gov, 760-602-7505
