Supervisors accept Local Roadway Safety Plan

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

The Sept. 14 meeting of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors included approval of the Local Roadway Safety Plan for unincorporated San Diego County.

The supervisors’ 5-0 vote adopts the findings of the plan but does not take any implementation actions. The plan includes ranked intersections and road segments recommended for improvement.

The Local Roadway Safety Plan will allow the county a framework for organizing stakeholders to identify, analyze, and prioritize roadway safety improvements on county-maintained roads. The plan focused on identifying crash problems and roadway risk factors and providing potential countermeasures. The plan will also be a critical component in the county's attempt to obtain grant funding.

LLG Engineering analyzed the county's traffic collision data between Jan. 1, 2015, and Dec. 31, 2019. During the five-year period, 16,245 collisions including 160 with at least one fatality and 683 with at least one severe injury were reported on roads under the jurisdiction of the county.

A roadway safety plan tends to integrate the four “e”s of roadway safety: engineering, enforcement, education, and emergency response. The 23 community planning groups and community sponsor groups were stakeholders in developing the Local Roadway Safety Plan as were representatives from various county departments covering roads, planning, health, law enforcement, and emergency response.

The database details included date and time, location, type of collision, collision severity, California Vehicle Code violations, weather, roadway conditions, safety equipment, responsible party information, and victim information. The collisions included only those on county roads and not unincorporated community collisions on private roads, state or interstate highways under the jurisdiction of the California Department of Transportation, Caltrans off-ramps, or intersections under the jurisdiction of Caltrans.

Collision occurrences were higher on Friday and Saturday, and approximately 22% of the collisions occurred between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Nearly 97% of the collisions were the result of a California Vehicle Code violation. Nearly 53% of the collisions involved another motor vehicle and nearly 29% involved a fixed object. Approximately 2% of collisions involved a pedestrian, and approximately 2% involved a bicyclist. Nearly 60% of the collisions were property damage only. Nearly 21% of collisions involved a driver 65 years or older while approximately 13% involved a driver 20 years or younger.

Improper turning caused 29.7% of the collisions, unsafe speeds were responsible for 22.2%, right-of-way violations accounted for 15.8%, and driving under the influence created 11.8% of the collisions. Hit objects accounted for 30.0% of the collisions while 20.9% involved broadside contact, 19.9% were rear-end collisions, and another 19.9% were sideswipe contact. Approximately 18% of the collisions occurred within 100 feet of an intersection.

The Local Roadway Safety Plan ranked 65 intersections. The Fallbrook intersection of Main Avenue and Aviation Road was the highest ranked. Jamacha Boulevard and Grand Avenue in Spring Valley was ranked second while Green Canyon Road and Sycamore Drive in Fallbrook was ranked third. Old Highway 395 and Dulin Road North was ranked seventh. Old Highway 395 and West Lilac Road was ranked 10th. The 11th-ranked intersection is Green Canyon Road and South Mission Road.

Fallbrook Street and Heald Lane is the 21st-highest priority. Fallbrook Street and South Mission Road was ranked 30th. Camino Del Rey and Camino Del Cielo was ranked 38th. The 43rd-ranked intersection is Mission Road and Willow Glen Road. Old Highway 395 and Dulin Road South is ranked 47th. Osborne Street and Hutchison Street was ranked 48th. South Mission Road and Olive Hill Road was the 61st-highest priority. East Vista Way and Gopher Canyon Road ranked 63rd.

Woodside Avenue in Lakeside between Winter Gardens Boulevard and Prospect Avenue is the highest-ranked location of the 60 road segments. The highest-ranked Greater Fallbrook segment, which is seventh on the list, is Pala Temecula Road between Mile Post 4.0 and Temepa Road. Pala Temecula Road between Mile Post 3.0 and Mile Post 4.0 ranks 16th. Old Highway 395 between Second Street and Rainbow Valley Boulevard was given the 19th-highest priority.

Rice Canyon Road from Mile Post 4.0 to Rainbow Heights Road was ranked 21st. The 23rd-highest ranking was given to Old Highway 395 between Rainbow Glen Road and Fifth Street. Ammunition Road from South Mission Road to Alturas Street was ranked 24th. Pala Temecula Road between Mile Post 2.0 and Mile Post 3.0 has the 26th ranking. Old Highway 395 from West Lilac Road to Dulin Road is ranked 27th. The 29th-highest priority is South Mission Road between Green Canyon Road and Quail Knoll Road. South Mission Road from State Route 76 to La Canada Road ranks 35th.

Ammunition Road between Alturas Street and the end of the county-maintained road is the 36th-highest priority. East Vista Way from Gopher Canyon Road to Mason Road ranks 39th. East Mission Road between Davis Drive and Hamilton Lane has the 43rd-highest priority. De Luz Road between Mile Post 5.0 and Green Valley Road is ranked 44th. Gopher Canyon Road from El Paseo to Disney Lane ranks 55th.