La Jolla Traffic & Transportation: Left-turn arrow OK on Fay Avenue

During its Oct. 17 meeting at the Rec Center, the La Jolla Traffic & Transportation (T&T) Board voted unanimously to support a left-turn arrow for north- and southbound Fay Avenue traffic at Pearl Street, an issue brought to the board by resident Byrne Eger.“Especially when school gets out, it’s impossible to go left,” Eger said.Board member Tom Brady added: “I think it’s a great idea.”

Eger also presented two other items, neither of which received the vote she desired. She argued for blinking lights on the pedestrian crosswalk at Girard Avenue and Silverado Street, saying that “I think someone’s going to get killed trying to walk across” by a “driver not really paying attention because they’re looking for parking.”

Resident Gail Forbes replied: “I believe the behavior you witnessed is also repeated at Girard and Kline, and Girard and Prospect, and Girard and Wall. You can look at any of our Village streets, and pedestrians are not cognizant of traffic.” Forbes added that “it’s the driver’s responsibility to stop” and that “a blinking light would be going off all day because pedestrians are always using (the crosswalk).”

When Eger asked if a traffic light would be possible, Forbes replied: “if you want to fight for the next two years of your life.”

T&T chair Dave Abrams floated a compromise motion to pass the issue onto City engineers “and see if they’d like to take a look at it.” It passed unanimously.

Finally, Eger presented the case for a right-turn-only sign at Exchange Place and Torrey Pines Road due to the “hazard at rush hour when people are trying to go across four lanes of traffic.”

However, she didn’t get the signatures of 75 percent of her neighbors, which the City requires.

“Would you be up for doing a little legwork?” Abrams asked her gently.

Board member Patrick Ryan called the request “a no-brainer” but noted that the neighbors would need to be polled.

“I don’t relish the idea of knocking door-to-door,” Eger replied. “I would prefer to do this by email or letter.” She then added, “I would prefer a motion.”

So the board voted and the motion failed 4-3.Board member Alisha Hawrylyszyn Frank volunteered to help Eger walk the neighborhood in her quest for signatures. “Between you and I honey, we got this,” she said.Frank also announced this was her last appearance on the T&T board. She had been representing the La Jolla Merchants Association (LJVMA here. However, she recently termed out of both her presidency and board seat on that organization and decided not to re-run. Next month, Frank promised, a new LJVMA rep would take her T&T seat.

Trolley suggestions, anyone?

Metropolitan Transit System rep Rodrigo Carrasco announced several open-house meetings to solicit suggestions on how to change the bus network to support the Mid-Coast Trolley extension to University City slated to open in 2021.The two meetings nearest to La Jolla are 4-7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 29 at the Pacific Beach Recreation Center,1405 Diamond St.; and 4-7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4 at Doyle Recreation Center, 8175 Regents Road. Meetings will also take place Nov. 1 in North Clairemont and Dec. 4 at the Linda Vista Library. Input can also being submitted online at sdmts.com/open-house

Dark side of night work

Resident Cindy Hazuka, who lives near the Torrey Pines Road Slope Restoration project, delivered a presentation during public comment during which she gave a face to the human cost of night work on the project.

“Thanks to your committee recommending that work be done at night,” she said, “190 hours of jackhammer-or-louder level noise (takes place) for 4-6 hours a night.” Hazuka said the noise was so loud, it crossed the threshold into pain.Chair Dave Abrams responded: “We had a tough decision balancing the needs of the residents of the area versus the tens of thousands of citizens who commute on that road. But it’s been elevated now beyond our group.”

Also at T&T

• The board voted unanimously to recommend to the City street closures and no-parking areas for the 38th annual Kiwanis Club-sponsored La Jolla Half Marathon, culminating at Scripps Park on Sunday, April 28.

• A vote was delayed on Melinda Merryweather’s request to eliminate the red curbs on La Jolla Farms Road. Abrams said he was informed that the Coastal Commission wants the curbs on the east side of the street removed. He said he took that information back to a City engineer who agreed to coordinate with the Coastal Commission yet was yet to make that connection.

• Resident Roland Stroebel and two of his neighbors requested that speed bumps be placed on Bonair Street between La Jolla Boulevard and Draper Avenue. However, they appeared without any signatures and were instructed how to obtain them.— La Jolla Traffic & Transportation Board (T&T) next meets 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 19 — instead of its regularly scheduled Wednesday slot for this one time only — at the La Jolla Rec Center, 615 Prospect St.