Traffic board approves Half Marathon, Concours event

Street closures required for the 35th annual La Jolla Half Marathon and the 12th annual Concours d’Elegnace car show got the thumbs up from La Jolla’s Traffic & Transportation advisory group, during its Dec. 16 meeting. The board also heard a presentation from La Jolla Boy Scout Luka Stojic, who brought a safety concern for the Muirlands neighborhood to the board’s attention. Requesting temporary street closures and parking prohibitions, Leisha Battles and Michael Dorvillier presented for their respective organizations:

Half Marathon: The La Jolla Half Marathon and La Jolla Shores 5K will be held 7:30 a.m. Sunday, April 24, 2016. The Half Marathon starts at the Del Mar Fairgrounds and ends at La Jolla Cove. The 5K is the last 3.1 miles of the half marathon, and starts in La Jolla Shores and ends at The Cove. The Kiwanis Club of La Jolla-owned event doubles as a fundraiser, Battles said, and all proceeds go to charitable organizations.

Battles said there would be various types of outreach to affected residents, including the event map and listed street closures, as was provided for the 2015 race. “We had a two-page neighborhood notification that went out to everyone on the route with an early heads-up of the closures,” she said. “And we’ve added door hangers for those near the finish line.” She noted for the 2015 race, organizers were a little late in getting the notifications out, but would give more notice for the 2016 event.

Coast Boulevard immediately adjacent Scripps Park will be closed for the event. A motion to approve the requested street closures passed. More information at lajollahalfmarathon.com

Concours d’Elegance: The La Jolla Concours d’Elegance car show – slated for April 8-10, 2016 in Scripps Park – earned its approval after organizers cleared up some confusion about the parking prohibitions. The same street closures affiliated with the 2015 event will be closed in 2016, on Sunday, April 10. Dorvillier said the signage warning of an upcoming street closure is required in advance. As such, the signage will be posted on Friday (April 8), that reads “No parking Sunday, April 10” with the applicable hours.

“We try not to have the ‘no parking’ signs up longer than we need to be because it causes confusion,” he said, noting people often read the words “no parking” and don’t look for additional details as to when exactly parking is prohibited. With the assurance that signage will be clear, and given there were no changes from the previous year’s plans, a motion to approve the street closures passed. More at lajollaconcours.com

Safety concerns: To earn a merit badge, Scout Stojic, 16, addressed T&T about speedy drivers and the abrupt reduction in speed limit on Nautilus Street as it approaches Muirlands Drive and Muirlands Vista Way.

“At the top of the hill, the speed limit is posted at 40 miles per hour, but there is no (early and clear) indicator that the speed limit will drop to 25 miles per hour (at the bottom of the street near Muirlands Drive),” he said. “I believe there have been several near-accidents.” As a Muirlands Vista Way resident, Stojic said he has been in three or four near-accidents from drivers going too fast as they enter a 25 mile-per-hour zone. Additionally, he reported that cars often drive faster than 40 miles per hour, or are unaware of the speed limit change because of a tree that partially obstructs a speed limit sign.

Although Stojic proposed installing a flashing speed indicator, similar to those on Via Capri and Torrey Pines Road, other suggestions were raised. T&T member Brian Earley proposed a “reduced speed ahead” sign. Although there is one sign on Nautilus that reads ‘25 zone ahead.’ “That would be an inexpensive and easy solution,” he said. “The city typically wants you to know there is a change coming, and it seems like that’s missing here.” Multiple board members also suggested the city look at the tree that affects sign visibility to see if their removal or trimming would be a solution.

T&T chair Dave Abrams said he would relay the concern to the city traffic engineers and ask them to evaluate the situation, so they might find the most appropriate solution. He also thanked Stojic for bringing the matter to the board’s attention.

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— La Jolla’s Traffic & Transportation advisory group next meets 4 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 20 at La Jolla Rec Center, 615 Prospect St. lajollacpa.org