TAC supports Ammunition Rd. parking ban

The county�'s Traffic Advisory Committee (TAC) took the first step towards a parking prohibition on two segments of Ammunition Road between Alturas Road and South Mission Road.

The TAC�'s September 16 recommendation for the parking prohibition covering a total of 650 feet of curb was unanimous. TAC staff will prepare a report for the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, which must ratify the TAC recommendation and can also override or modify the recommendation. The Board of Supervisors is expected to approve the first reading and introduction of the ordinance November 9, but since a regulatory ordinance requires a second reading and adoption that would take place December 7.

A regulatory ordinance takes effect 30 days after adoption, so the parking ban would be effective January 6.

��It�'s a question of safety versus demand for parking,�� said Murali Pasumarthi, the traffic engineering manager for the county�'s Department of Public Works.

The measure is one of many intended to address the problem on Ammunition Road. While some of the traffic is to and from residential apartments or the shopping center on the north side of the , through traffic travels into or out of Camp Pendleton�'s eastern gate.

��We�'re also working with the base,�� Pasumarthi said. ��They�'re actually going to be widening the entrance to two inbound lanes and gates.��

The second inbound gate would reduce the traffic backup onto Ammunition Road, and the county plans to restripe the road to allow for two inbound lanes once the second gate is completed.

A significant portion of the base traffic enters Fallbrook onto Mission Road from Interstate 15.

��The impacts are through the village all the way east,�� said TAC secretary Kenton Jones.

The California Department of Transportation is working with the Federal government on funding a solution for that impact.

��We�'re trying to find a source of funding to be able to add some additional lanes at the interchange,�� said Mike Powers, the Caltrans representative on the TAC. ��Mostly it�'s to widen the northbound on-ramp and to possibly do some changes at the Mission/395 intersection. We�'re basically trying to approach the queuing problem as you approach the interchange from the west.��

The county and the California Highway Patrol are working on enforcement of illegal passing on Ammunition Road.

��Enforcement worked. The collisions have gone down dramatically,�� said Jimmy Gaffney of the CHP�'s Oceanside office, who is a member of the TAC.

The county is also pursuing a state Safe Routes to Schools grant, which would fund sidewalk construction for the missing sidewalk portions of Ammunition Road - the same 650 feet covered by the parking prohibition. Although subsequent TAC and Board of Supervisors approval would be necessary, the parking ban would likely be repealed after the sidewalks are ready for use.

��After sidewalks it would be undone likely,�� Jones said.

The Fallbrook Community Planning Group, which supports the parking ban, has no objection to restoring on-street parking once the sidewalks are in place.

��This is a temporary measure until the sidewalks can be installed,�� said Anne Burdick, who chairs the planning group�'s Circulation Committee. ��The primary objective is to protect the pedestrians. Once they have a sidewalk, that same need disappears. They�'ll be on the sidewalk.��

The official TAC traffic surveys do not include pedestrian traffic, although Pasumarthi personally made visual observations of pedestrian activity. The two-way vehicular average daily traffic volume based on an April 2011 traffic survey is 11,580 vehicles west of Alturas Road and 13,590 vehicles east of Alturas Road. An April 2002 survey east of Alturas Road had a two-way average daily volume of 10,700 vehicles. The TAC�'s traffic collision statistics only addressed parking vehicles in the vicinity of the recommended parking prohibitions, but there were three such reported collisions in the five-year period from March 31, 2006, to March 31, 2011. Ammunition Road, which has a posted 40 mph speed limit, is designated as a Collector on the county�'s Circulation Element map.

Pasumarthi observed more than 45 children exiting from the school bus stop on that block of Ammunition Road. He also doubted that changing the school bus stop location would solve the problem.

��It�'s not just from one side of the street,�� he said. ��It�'s a significant high-density residential area. Kids walk on Alturas Road, come down and then go on Ammunition.��

Both of the parking prohibitions are on the south side of Ammunition Road. One of the locations is between 730 feet east of Alturas Road and 960 feet east of Alturas Road while the other parking ban is between 50 feet west of South Mission Road and 470 feet west of Ammunition Road. The 350-foot segment of Ammunition Road between the two areas slated for the parking restriction has sidewalks on the south side.

Ammunition Road has a two-way left turn lane, and the width south of the turn lane is 28 feet at one area slated for the ban and 21 feet at the other area. Since there is no pedestrian area south of where cars park along those segments, pedestrians must travel in the street north of any parked cars. Pasumarthi observed parents with strollers utilizing the roadway area, and if a stroller is alongside a parked car a traveling vehicle would have seven to eight feet of travel space.

��There is no other area that needs parking restrictions in this segment of the roadway,�� Pasumarthi said. ��The rest of Ammunition Road is wide and is extensively used for parking.��

��It sure looks like getting sidewalks in there should be pushed,�� said Walter Lake, the TAC public member from the Second Supervisorial District.

��We should be hearing sometime soon on the success of our application,�� Pasumarthi said.

Although the TAC motion did not automatically include a review to repeal the parking prohibition once the sidewalks are in place, the TAC will respond to a request for a regulatory change from the public, a planning group, county staff, or law enforcement.

��The entire community is thrilled to death with the miraculous improvements that have been instituted,�� Burdick said. ��To have the cooperation of so many entities, all working for the same goal, is fabulous. They�'ve been extremely responsive.��

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