After a fast-moving fire swept into town a decade ago, burning more than 200 homes and trapping thousands of fleeing residents on gridlocked mountain roads, a grand jury called on officials to improve evacuation routes.
But six years later, the city decided to narrow a portion of the main road through town from four lanes to two as part of an effort in the downtown area aimed at boosting commerce as well as traffic and pedestrian safety.
Two other roads in the city were also narrowed, records show.
The so-called “road diet” for Skyway slowed traffic, and a local civic group donated benches and landscaping to beautify the zone.
Nearly two weeks ago, Skyway was the scene of unspeakable horror when the worst wildfire in California history besieged Paradise. Up to 27,000 residents trying to escape the flames instead were stuck in traffic, the buildings around them burning. Some died in their cars when the fire roared over them.
Monday, November 26, 2018
Streetscapes in Paradise
LA Times:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Does anybody think what happened in Paradise and Playa del Rey will change the minds of the council, staff, Main Street, CCC and few residents who are behind Leucadia Streetscam?
ReplyDeleteThis article establishes that Paradise is overrun with a major fire that burns hundreds of homes every decade or so.
ReplyDeleteLeucadia has never had a major fire, ever.
This isn’t apples and oranges; it’s apples and black holes.
So your incredible "point" is that because Leucadia has never had a fire, it won't have one in future?
DeleteAbsolutely.
DeleteFire risk comes from three factors: dry fuel, ambient heat, and oxygen (wind).
Paradise is surrounded by National Forest lands in a multi-year drought, they have inland heat, and the city sits in a valley next to mountains that act as a natural Venturi to accelerate wind.
Leucadia is surrounded by miles of irrigated tropical suburban landscaping. It’s coastal breezes mean many homes don’t even have air conditioning. And winds are tame.
Leucadia isn’t remotely in the same risk category. To suggest otherwise is simply absurd.
And if there's a fire close enough to force folks onto the 101?? Folks don't have to live in Leucadia to be hit hard with the traffic generated by a nearby emergency. We had friends who had to leave La Costa and come stay with us in Leucadia. How did they get here? The 101. Why? The 5 was packed.
DeleteMore likely an earthquake.(Or a crazed Trump launching a nuclear war). But there'd be no where to go anyway.
Delete9:44 YOU ARE AN IDIOT. You must be a Hillary Supporter looking for the destruction of our country.
Delete7:10 AM Can't handle the possibility, eh, moron.
DeleteBesides, our Mayor defined paradise when she ran for election the first time. The community continues to listen and supported her views by 85% this last election - NOW GET OVER IT! Can you spell MANDATE!!
ReplyDeleteCan you spell "EARTHQUAKE". Ever been near a broken gas line? WE have two ways outta here. The freeway and 101. BTW, Catherine "winning" against a naive, inexperienced guy was no victory. A monkey could do it.
ReplyDeleteI voted for his dog.
Delete4:22 That anybody has to explain this to you shows the level of your idiocy: The point is not that Leucadia could have a fire like the recent one in Paradise. There are other natural and manmade disasters that require evacuations.
ReplyDeleteAside from those, there's the recent experience in Playa del Rey and the nearly daily traffic congestion in Leucadia.
Blakespear doesn't have a mandate. A real candidate could defeat her.
Recommended Action: 1) Approve Amendment No. 2 to the City Manager’s Employment Agreement to include an increase in the annual base compensation by $7,283 for a total of $250,043; an annual City contribution toward City Manager’s selected 457-Deferred Compensation Plan in the amount of $20,000; and an additional nine (9) hours of vacation leave annually, effective June 1, 2018; and 2) Approve a Budget adjustment of $27,283 to the City Manager department budget for FY18/19.
ReplyDeleteShe gets paid WHAT?
DeleteTotal is well over $300K.
DeleteMunicipal salaries are way out of control. Should be slashed in half.
DeleteSo the solution is to abandon all stop signs and traffic lights? I'm not sure there are many lessons to learn from the Paradise fire. Santa Barbara is more like us than Paradise. It only has a 2 lane hwy running through it, not a 5 lane freeway and it doesn't seem to have a problem with it's evacuation plan. Berkeley and Oakland are far more congested than us and their earthquake preparedness plan seems fine. As for gas lines bursting, that's a one time deal. Just because on line breaks doesn't mean the entire city blows up. The gas line explosion in MA a while ago did not require a massive evacuation. In fact, there was another on yesterday on the upper wast side (NYC) and there was no massive evacuation. While all these things are very serious I'm not sure it results in a massive redesign of our transportation system, or invalidate streetscape. Sounds desperate to me.......
ReplyDeleteNo one is asking for a 5-lane highway. They are asking for safety first. Narrowing the 101 to one lane in each direction at the behest of a handful of merchants and militant cyclists. Many of these weekend cyclists don't even live here; it's an old city trick to call in the cycle clubs to show up en masse when needed (notice they're not required to give their name and where they live). Notice our pie-in-the-sky council members' butts don't touch a bicycle seat except for the odd recreational outing for maybe a couple of them. They are the desperate ones.
DeleteNot putting it to a vote of the people who live here is what's desperate. Lying about "workshop" results is what's desperate. Desperate and the opposite of true representation. Get ready for more steamrolling from a council that has its own agenda. You'd better hope you're not at odds with them when they come to your neighborhood. Get ready, folks. Catherine has packed the court and closed her ears.
1/101 through Santa Barbara is four lanes.
ReplyDeleteThe Playa del Rey experience is instructive.
5:09, your argument is specious.
So you agree that the Paradise fire comparison is bunk. Let’s start there.
DeleteWhat comparison?
Delete6:09 - SB has 2 lanes - 2 lanes northbound, 2 lanes southbound. Using your methodology, 101 has 4, the 5 has 10. Regardless, substantively there's little Leucadia can learn from Paradise.
DeleteNo one drives through Solana Beach in the summer though. If you want people to avoid driving along the coastline through Encinitas, then that comparison works.
DeleteAlso, there is more density and housing in Encinitas than Solana Beach.
I agree that there is little to learn from Paradise. But there are other frustrations.
Also your stupid little bike sharing thing will flop. Scooters might work and meet demand. But still it will be messy.
101 north of Leucadia is four lanes. 101 south of Leucadia is four lanes. Just what positive is achieved by making Leucadia 101 two lanes?
DeleteBicyclists who don't have a dedicated, separated lane south or north will have one in Leucadia? So what? What does that achieve that's positive?
What it achieves that's negative is doubling the traffic congestion for the dominant transportation mode — cars. That will inconvenience, frustrate and endanger residents, and it will discourage visitors. Businesses will die.
No change to the light at Leucadia Blvd, no increased access from the east, restricted access and flow north and south equals failure. It also violates the law despite the Coastal Commission's wrong decision.
If an earthquake hits, there is no warning. After the quake, it would be seriously stupid for everyone to jump into their cars and leave without knowing where the epicenter was, which bridges and roads are still usable, what direction to go, where resources and services are being marshaled for survivors, where power lines are down, etc. It would be seriously stupid to go drive onto bridges that may be damaged during aftershocks.
ReplyDeleteIf you jump in your car immediately after a major quake, a traffic jam is the least of your worries. In fact, a jam could save your stupid life.
Everyone should have a stock of food for the whole family for at least a week that doesn’t need refrigeration, gas, or electricity to serve it. Also a gallon of water per person per day for a week, first aid kit, radio, flashlights, batteries, and a tent or other shelter to stay in if the house structure is compromised. It’s also a good idea to have enough gasoline cans to fill the car you’ll eventually use to leave once the best route becomes clear from radio reports.
Thanks for the lecture on human nature. Back to reality. Everyone will jump into their cars and try to leave.
DeleteThe herd is made stronger without them.
DeleteNews flash: they are the herd.
DeleteNEWSFLASH: You lost the election with your candidate (JP, what's his name).
ReplyDelete1. Streetscape will happen.
2. L-7 will be affordable housing
3. Beacons staircase will be built
4. Coastal Rail Trail will be completed
5. More focus on multi-mode transportation and safety
Paradise is coming!
You mean, L-7 and everything else in Measure U, T and the former 2012 GP.
Delete3,000 more units on top of what will be imposed by a judge will kill this city. Furthermore, with that additional density, the mitigation will reshape the 101 Streetscam back to four lanes.
Except the state doesn't consider vehicle delay (or service level or congestion) an impact that requires mitigation. Thanks SB 743.
DeleteMulti-modal transportation is a great theory — an illusion. It's gaining some traction in dense urban areas, but it doesn't work in suburbia or to get from suburbia to urban areas.
Delete9:32 is pipe dreaming.
9:32 PM
ReplyDelete1. Mayor "more cement" Blakespear will resign.
2. Tony "free trip" Kranz will resign.
9:32.
ReplyDeleteI agree.
Enough talking. Enough whiners. Either chain yourself to a bulldozer, or shaaaaaaaahdaaaaaahp.
Your old road is rapidly aging.
So get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a changin
Enter that in your next poetry slam, Tony.
DeleteOn December 6 the Planning Commission will offer their interpretation of citywide mechanical car lifts. The new accessory dwelling units (ADU) law allows them to be built on parcels sizes of 4,000 square feet or larger. The state law also allows mechanical car lifts which would do away with the code requirements of parking spaces on site.
ReplyDeleteWho cares?
DeleteIf someone wants to use a lift to reduce the amount of paved surface area on their property, how is that my business?
Doubling the amount of allowable housing units in Encinitas will double the future population. So instead of having the current 65,000 residents on our roads and beaches, the City Council wants to double the congestion without having the developers build any infrastructure to support the increased crowds. Yeah! Lets pack em in like PB or Hungtington Beach!
DeleteI don't want our beach and roads to be twice as crowded and I don't want to have my water bills prices to cut my usage as the City approves more and more new meters.
I will be voting for all no grow candidate in the future. Even crazy-assed ones like Crazy Eyes over the current sell outs. Go Crazy Eyed C - you have my vote come next election.
The problem as I see it, is I like Encinitas less crowded and they want everyone to live here (with subsidized housing) and make it look like Huntington Beach. I think large scale development should not be approved in an overdeveloped desert and focused in areas with more water like up North.
To control this out of control over-development, the City needs to greatly increase requirements and fees for new development. Remodels get exempt. Any candidate, including Crazy Eyes or Lying Fiske, supporting no growth strategies has my full support. The current direction is pure bullshit.
Come on WC, you're better than this...
ReplyDelete-MGJ
Than what, MGJ? WC is hardly alone in his commentary.
DeleteIt's agreed that the 101 is the main alternative route to the 5. It's not inconceivable that people will crowd it to escape a calamity.
Why so dismissive of a real concern?
Scare tactics. Comparing Leucadia to Paradise is a bit of a stretch. None of the area near the coast is in or near a forest, dried out by years of drought and bark beetle infestations, not to mention lack of defensible space and lack of modern, fire resistant buildings.
Delete"It’s far from clear whether the narrowing of Skyway — the largest of just four routes out of the foothill town — worsened the chaotic delays in getting out."
DeleteIt’s far from clear whether the narrowing of Skyway — the largest of just four routes out of the foothill town — worsened the chaotic delays in getting out.
DeleteSeriously, 12:53? You need to commission a study to tell you what common sense tells the rest of us?
DeleteOMG, are you catching the BS that's swamping the city council meeting?
ReplyDelete7:55pm-
ReplyDeleteAgreed. City Council praising the amazing failures of Staff and giving the worst City Manager a pat on her "back" and a big $$$$ increase.
They all disgust me. Time for big change next election. I hope we have some competent challengers to take out Tony and Catherine. They are glorified ego grand-standers praising eachother for the amazing job they are all doing while trying to rape the citizens with BS zoning increases and developer give aways.
I hope Charlie McDermott runs. He would slaughter Fakespear.
Anybody in the peanut gallery would need waders and a shovel to get through the BS piling up during that delusional self-praise.
ReplyDelete"Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blakespear is the new vice chair of the San Diego Association of Governments. If past is any indication, that would position her to become board chair of the powerful regional agency in two years. (Coast News)"
Making it that much more important that Blakespear gets ousted in 2020.
Better come up with a candidate who can spell to run against her....
ReplyDeleteThere was a whole lot more to his inadequacy than his inability to spell, as I'm sure you realize.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the joke candidacy usually doesn't get it done. wouldn't be surprised to see him or someone like him from Neptune run in 2 years.
ReplyDeleteOr someone who takes out Tony with both hands tied behind their back. An even slightly more serious candidate will make hash of the turncoat "local boy."
DeleteNo good place to put this unless WC makes a new thread, but it was another bad night for Brenda at last night's PC meeting.
ReplyDeleteBeacons got shot down again, this time over a technicality "staff" erroneously thought they could sidestep. SOP not rewarded this time.
Side note: Jody is going to be nothing short of a disaster on Council. She struggles obviously with anything even remotely technical and on top of that is a ditz. Disaster.