Drivers across Encinitas will notice new speed limit signs and pavement markings on dozens of streets after the city completed its latest round of state-mandated speed reductions in August.

The new limits stem from Ordinance No. 2026-05, which the City Council adopted unanimously on May 27 with all five members voting in favor: council members Ehlers, Lyndes, O'Hara, San Antonio and Shaffer. The ordinance updated the city's comprehensive street list for lower speed limits under California Assembly Bills 43 and 382.

Signs are now up. Sign installation and pavement marking work finished in August, according to the city's AB43 project page, giving the ordinance teeth on the road.

What changed

AB43 allows California cities to cut speed limits by an additional 5 mph on designated "Safety Corridors" and on roads near concentrations of cyclists and pedestrians, beyond the standard engineering survey process. Under the program launched in 2024, Encinitas designated 14 streets as Safety Corridors, covering roughly 20 percent of city roadways based on 2018–2022 collision data. Those corridors include El Camino Real, Encinitas Boulevard, Leucadia Boulevard, North and South Coast Highway 101, Olivenhain Road, Rancho Santa Fe Road, Santa Fe Drive and San Elijo Avenue, among others.

A second group of streets targeted for reductions under the program includes roads with heavy bike and pedestrian traffic: La Costa Avenue, Quail Gardens Drive, Garden View Road, Mountain Vista Drive, Birmingham Drive, Lake Drive and others. Local and residential roads with existing 25 mph limits near Encinitas schools were also included.

The city's phased approach prioritized all roadways with existing limits of 30 mph or higher and all roadways within a quarter-mile of schools.

Background

This is the second phase of Encinitas's AB43 program. The council first directed staff to maximize speed reductions in October 2023. The Mobility and Traffic Safety Commission reviewed the plan in February 2024, and the council's initial ordinance, No. 2024-10, was adopted Sept. 25, 2024, with the first wave of new signs completed that month.

The 2026 ordinance updated that framework by incorporating 2025 Engineering and Traffic Surveys and adding AB382 provisions. The comprehensive street list is updated no more than once per year.

What's next

The full list of affected streets is available on the city's project page. A special City Council meeting on roadway safety and traffic enforcement is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 26, at 4 p.m. at City Hall; the meeting covers traffic safety broadly and its full agenda has not been published. Residents can attend in person or virtually.