Encinitas Municipal Code § 4.3 Area Circulation Recommendations

In addition to the infrastructure proposals described in Chapter 5, other recommendations for the local circulation system deal literally with the points of interaction between vehicle and pedestrian routes, such as at street intersections and within parking lots where pedestrians walk to access shops. Other recommendations are based on the implications of proposals in Chapter 2, Community Vision and Specific Plan Goals.

Figure 9, Area Circulation Concepts, summarizes circulation recommendations.

In general, efforts to maintain a contiguous pedestrian network are encouraged. Completing missing pedestrian linkages within and in immediately adjacent areas outside the Specific Plan creates connectivity to and from the Specific Plan area.

A. North-South Routes

The three principal north-south routes recognized by this Specific Plan are: the path within the NCTD right-of-way; Newcastle Avenue; and the informal meander created by pedestrians walking through the middle of the Plan area using alleys, spaces between buildings, and parking lots.

This Specific Plan proposes reinforcing the informal meander by encouraging the creation of pedestrian pathways and other passageways between buildings; developing alleyways that allow for safe pedestrian passage; and designating Newcastle Avenue as a greenway, i.e., a richly landscaped corridor between Orinda Drive on the south to Birmingham Drive on the north. Newcastle Avenue should become a street that is highly attractive to pedestrians.

B. East-West Routes

All east-west streets should function as pedestrian routes, with pathways and landscaping designed as part of infrastructure upgrades.

All intersections and street crossings within the Specific Plan area are designated as Major Gateways or Intersections.

A. Major Gateways

Two major gateways exist within Cardiff-by-the-Sea.

Both San Elijo Avenue and Birmingham Drive provide direct links to the regional road system, namely South Coast Highway 101 and Interstate 5. As a result, a regional entrance to Cardiff-by-the-Sea typically occurs for vehicles traveling westbound on Birmingham Drive and for vehicles traveling east-bound on Chesterfield Drive. At those two points – Birmingham Drive at Newcastle Avenue and San Elijo Avenue at Chesterfield Drive – a major community gateway should signify entrance into Cardiff-by-the-Sea.

These gateways can include signage, landscaping, paving, and other design elements. See Figure 10, Gateways and Intersections.