A draft plan to improve walking, biking and driving safety near Kelly Elementary School heads to a Carlsbad commission for review. The Traffic Safety & Mobility Commission takes it up Monday, Nov. 2.
The meeting runs from 4 to 7 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 1200 Carlsbad Village Drive, according to the city's meeting calendar. Chris Romano is listed as the commission's staff liaison.
The Carlsbad City Council directed staff in December 2025 to develop a Safe Routes to School plan identifying short- and long-term street improvements near the school, according to a city news release posted Oct. 27. The plan covers Kelly Drive from El Camino Real to Park Drive and Park Drive from Kelly Drive to Neblina Drive, according to the city's community input summary.
After the commission meeting, staff will review feedback and consider updates before presenting a final plan to the City Council for consideration in early 2027, the news release states.
What residents said
The city held two listening sessions and ran an online map-based survey from April 21 to May 18 to gather input. Turnout at the listening sessions was thin: one person attended a virtual session on April 22 and two attended an in-person session at the school on May 8, the input summary shows.
The online survey drew broader participation. Ninety contributors submitted 120 location-specific comments, the summary states. The city noted the survey was not statistically significant and should carry the same weight as an email or public comment.
Traffic safety dominated the responses. Of the mapped comments, 87 (72%) fell under "other traffic safety," 19 (16%) addressed walking improvements and 14 (12%) focused on bicycle improvements.
Key themes included congestion during school arrival and dismissal, confusion about traffic circulation, pedestrian safety, speeding and bicycle infrastructure. Residents flagged speeding along the school frontage on Kelly Drive, left turns out of the school parking lot that are prohibited but widely ignored, and obstructed sightlines at the midblock crosswalk.
One survey respondent wrote that the steep slope on Kelly Drive "invites speeding" and that "kids walking to school use the marked crosswalk at Kelly, right in the line of fire."
East of El Camino Real, commenters said students must cross six lanes of 55-mph traffic to reach a northbound bike lane. They called for a trail or residential street connection west of El Camino Real linking those neighborhoods to the school.
The city mailed postcards to nearly 700 residents near the school to promote the input opportunities, the summary states.
Earlier improvements already in place
Several short-term fixes were completed along Kelly Drive in summer 2025 and January 2026, including new all-way stops, a queue lane for the school parking lot and restriping the street median to discourage left turns out of the lot.
The Nov. 2 commission meeting is open to the public. Residents can also email comments to [email protected].
