Beginning Monday, November 7, the City of Coronado will initiate a pilot project to manually control morning traffic at the intersection of state Route 75 (Silver Strand) and Tarawa Road.
The pilot project was announced at the November 1 City Council meeting by City Manager Blair King. It will end December 15. Commuters are advised to follow the traffic direction of two uniformed traffic guards in orange vests, who will work Monday through Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. Traffic will not be manually directed Thanksgiving week due to lower traffic volumes.
The goal of the pilot project is to maximize the efficiency of traffic and pedestrian movement at this location. The City will assess the results of the project to see whether manual traffic direction improves traffic flow at the intersection and has any impacts on traffic north of Tarawa Road.
Last month, the City met with the California Department of Transportation and Navy to work on ways to mitigate traffic following an increase in traffic after the Labor Day holiday for a variety of reasons. The pedestrian activated signal at the SR 75 and Tarawa intersection was found to be activated almost every signal cycle during morning rush hour, which disrupted synchronization with the follow-on signal at SR 75 and Rendova Road. Last week, the City placed signs at the intersection asking weekday morning pedestrians to wait one full signal cycle before activating the pedestrian signal. Caltrans, with City input, also made adjustments that have provided northbound commuters 20 more seconds of green light by reducing the left turn time onto the base. The City will continue to monitor traffic here and all over Coronado.
