Multiple entities collaborate on Base-related traffic issues

Traffic gridlock caused by troops and civilian workers trying to enter Camp Pendleton and the Naval Weapons station through the Ammunition Road gate on weekday mornings and afternoons have become a headache for Fallbrook residents and Marines alike; but due to a collaborative effort now underway between Camp Pendleton officials, Naval Weapon station personnel, county officials, state representatives and Fallbrook residents, the problem is well on its way to being resolved.

According to Anne Burdick, a member of the Fallbrook Community Planning Group (FCPG), the collaboration has taken large strides to alleviate the traffic rush by addressing the traffic light settings along Ammunition located at the Mission Road and Alturas Road intersections. In addition, plans are also being made to address the severe backup that occurs on East Mission Road near Interstate 15.

“It was mind-boggling to see how supportive everyone was and eager to help us,” said Burdick, who had stated that the traffic concerns caused by military personnel commuting to and from the Base have been a concern for several years.

“Backup on East Mission has been known to extend four miles,” explained Burdick.

The collaboration included individuals from the Fallbrook Village Association, the Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce, California Dept. of Transportation (Caltrans), San Diego County Department of Public Works, Naval Weapons Station, Camp Pendleton, County Supervisor Bill Horn and Congressman Darrell Issa’s office. The first meeting to discuss the traffic situation and make progress towards rectifying the problem was held approximately a year ago.

“We just couldn’t get traction to get the project moving,” said Burdick. “However, once Don McKinney from Congressman Issa’s office was on board, he was able to get the Marine Corps to apply for road access defense funds, which is a military fund for its impact on surrounding communities.”

The FCPG also wrote a letter to Colonel Nicholas Marano, the commanding officer of Camp Pendleton, to share its stance with the traffic situation, encouraging him to apply for the funds.

According to Camp Pendleton media affairs, both Colonel Marano, and his chief of staff, Colonel Osamah Jammal, were unavailable for comment, despite numerous attempts the Village News made to contact them.

According to Vince Ross, president of the Fallbrook Village Association, the traffic problem at East Mission Road and Interstate 15 has been a problem that the community organizations have been trying to solve for several years.

However, it was not until the county, state and military stepped into the equation that the project began to gain momentum.

“We had been told that in order to solve the problem, four lanes would have to be put in, which would cost $20 to 25 million dollars,” said Ross, who hopes the traffic calming effort will make living and visiting Fallbrook more enjoyable. “Now there is a sense of joint effort from the community, Camp Pendleton, and the Naval Weapons Station. If the Base and weapons station create 50 percent of the daily traffic, it was only logical that they work with us in this coalition.”

According to McKinney, staff visited the impacted intersections along Ammunition Rd. and to the Mission Road traffic light at Interstate 15 to see what could be amended immediately.

McKinney stated that Caltrans staff could restripe E. Mission Rd. so that two eastbound lanes could turn onto the northbound I-15 ramp, which would speed up traffic. In addition the traffic light timing intervals on Ammunition Road have been changed so that traffic moving onto the Base from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. and off the Base from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. will be able to flow more smoothly.

Murali Pasumarthi, the manager of traffic engineering with the county’s Public Works division stated her agency was able to focus on the traffic lights on Ammunition Road.

“We have identified through our own efforts and through communication with the planning group that there is a significant delay that drivers were facing when going south on S. Mission Road to go east on Ammunition,” said Pasumarthi, who observed the traffic concerns with a team so that they could evaluate them and come up with a short, medium, and long-term plan to mitigate the process.

“Besides the congestion faced by the motoring public, there is an issue of pedestrians going back and forth at the intersections,” said Pasumarthi. “Their needs must be accommodated as well, and we must ensure they are able to cross in a safe manner.”

Pasumarthi stated that his team was able to “fine tune” the traffic lights that would allow motorists driving onto Base to have priority, while allowing pedestrians crossing the intersections to do so safely.

Pasumarthi said the traffic light modification allows for 41 to 42 cars to move through the intersection every two minutes.

“We were able to achieve a lot through the [re-timing of the] traffic lights,” said Pasumarthi, who said the light at the South Mission and Ammunition will be “further fine-tuned” so that the turning lanes going north from Ammunition will be coordinated with the southbound traffic from westbound Ammunition drivers.

“This will flush more vehicles through the intersection, and improve the overall capacity of the intersection, and further improve traffic,” said Pasumarthi. “These are very short-term solutions within existing constraints.”

“We had to balance between pedestrian demand and motoring demand, while recognizing the naval weapons station only allows one vehicle to enter the gate at a time,” said Pasumarthi.

Pasumarthi stated that the projects of traffic light modification and lane configurations were done on house staff time, bringing no additional costs to the projects.

“We will also be programming the two left lanes turning east onto Mission Rd. so that we can move traffic off base at a greater speed,” explained McKinney. “Part of our long term goal is to add a turning lane on Live Oak Park Rd., which would allow a car to turn without blocking traffic. However this is a year to a year-and-a-half away, but it is on the agenda.”

Pasumarthi stated that Public Works plans to widen Ammunition Road into a five-lane road at a future date; however, a drain structure currently inhibits the construction. Pasumarthi believes that the structure will cause the widening of the road to be significantly more expensive, as it would have to be removed and replaced.

“It physically impedes the addition of lanes at this time, but we have future plans to widen the road,” said Pasumarthi. “The amount of vehicle volume justifies the five-lane road, but it cannot be done with the drain structure.”

In addition to roadwork, Pasumarthi stated that sidewalk pieces are missing on the northeast quadrant of the Ammunition Road and Alturas Road intersection, which must be addressed in order to assure pedestrian safety.

The road leading into Camp Pendleton will be restriped so that there will be two lanes heading into the Base.

Anthony Winicki, the director of the Naval Weapons station, stated that it was “very obvious” that the large amount of traffic coming through the gate on Ammunition Road required more than just one gate granting access.

“The only thing I did was simply open up a dialogue between Camp Pendleton and Fallbrook; the issue has been around a long time,” said Winicki. “A month or so ago, we came to a firm understanding that everyone was committed to improving the situation. Colonel Marano’s staff has developed a gate-widening plan. This is very much an example of federal, state and community organizations making an effort together to improve the lives of those who have to drive on this road to get to work in the morning.”

According to Winicki, there have been several traffic studies done on the gate, which have shown that approximately 10,000 to 13,000 vehicles pass through the Fallbrook gate during a workweek.

“About 95 percent of that traffic is heading onto Camp Pendleton,” stated Winicki. “The number of employees at the Naval Weapons station is about 300, not including contractors, so they are only a small percentage.”

The plans for widening the Naval Weapons gate have already been set into motion. The county’s Public Works representatives met with Camp Pendleton officials and traffic engineers to conceptualize the idea, said Winicki.

“They are very actively going forward,” he said. “The Marines are very committed to see thing through, without impacting the environment and while improving the quality of life for citizenry.”

Winicki believes this project exemplifies the fact that the military base wants to be able to help the Fallbrook community address concerns caused by living near a military base.

“We want to be good neighbors to the community, and want to facilitate ways to discuss issues,” said Winicki. “I believe the Fallbrook community has been very patient as residents and business owners have been impacted.”

Also on the long term plan for traffic calming is a change to the bridge giving access to Interstate 15. McKinney stated that the last 200 yards of the eastbound part of the bridge would become two lanes accessing the northbound ramp of the I-15.

“Almost 90 percent of traffic is going in that direction, and this will shorten our backup time,” said McKinney. “We are making changes with the minimum expense and maximum amount of coordination, and seeing a significant difference.”

To continue the traffic-calming project, McKinney stated that the Naval Weapons Base gate on Ammunition Road, through which the commuters must go through to access and leave Camp Pendleton, would be expanded to add an additional gate.

“We haven’t developed the cost, but the gate shouldn’t be more than a few hundred thousand,” he explained. The cost would also include traffic light programming. “For big government, this is a relatively small amount of money. We are really maximizing what is available without intruding the nature and character of the Fallbrook area.”

In order to have the plans accepted for funding, McKinney stated that the plan will be broken into sections and money will be pursued for each section.

“Colonel Marano is happy to submit the federal grant for each individual section,” he said. “There are thousands of Marines and civilian employees that this impact is coming from, which allows him to ask for impact fees.”

Since the traffic lights’ modification, drivers going through the area have already claimed to see a difference in their driving time, said Burdick.

“Now engineers from the county and the Base are working together to dovetail the work on their respective ends of the gate,” she said. “We have come so far.”