City of Coronado to Test Manual Control of Strand Traffic

CORONADO, CA -- Next week, the City of Coronado is launching a six-week pilot project to manually control morning traffic at the intersection of state Route 75 and Tarawa Road.

The project was announced at the Nov. 1 City Council meeting by City Manager Blair King. The project begins Mon., Nov. 7 and lasts through Dec. 15.

Commuters are advised to follow the traffic direction of two uniformed traffic guards in orange vests, who'll work 6:30 am to 8:30 a.m. Monday through Thursday. Traffic won't be manually directed Thanksgiving week, however, due to expected lower traffic volumes.

The goal of the pilot project, according to the city, is to maximize the efficiency of traffic and pedestrian movement at this location. The city says it'll 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.

In October, city officials met with the California Department of Transportation and U.S. 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.

Image of Tarawa Road traffic courtesy of the City of Coronado.