The county’s Traffic Advisory Committee has recommended a 35-mph speed limit for Viejas Grade from Viejas Boulevard and Riverside Drive to Anderson Ranch Road.
A unanimous TAC vote Sept. 9 recommended that a 35-mph speed limit be established for the 1.93-mile section and that the speed limit be certified for radar enforcement. The San Diego County Board of Supervisors must approve any regulatory change, and the speed limit is expected to be heard by the Board of Supervisors on Jan. 11, 2023.
“This is a chapter called the birth of a speed limit,” said TAC secretary Kenton Jones. “Roads grow up.”
Viejas Grade from Viejas Boulevard and Riverside Drive to Anderson Ranch Road currently has no posted speed limit, although by state law the maximum speed for a two-lane road is 55 mph and a driver exceeding a speed which is reasonable and prudent may be cited. “This item has come to us today because of some residents’ complaints,” Jones said.
The road has curve speed advisory signs along with school bus stops which would require motorists to stop when bus indicators denote that. Viejas Grade is a two-lane road with a pavement width ranging from 21 to 28 feet. The roadway is striped with a no passing centerline and white edge lines on both sides.
Viejas Grade is not classified in the Mobility Element of the county’s general plan. A traffic survey 1,550 feet west of Oak Grove Drive was taken April 19. The 175 vehicles consisted of 91 westbound and 84 eastbound motorists.
“It’s definitely very low volume on this road,” Jones said.
Between June 1, 2019, and May 31, 2022, Viejas Grade from Viejas Boulevard and Riverside Drive to Anderson Ranch Road had one reported collision for a collision rate of 2.70 per million vehicle miles.
In order for a speed limit to be enforceable by radar, a speed survey must show that the speed limit is within an adjacent 5 mph increment to the 85th percentile speed. Periodic recertification, including a supporting speed survey, is required for continued radar enforcement and the county’s Department of Public Works or a DPW contractor typically conducts speed surveys every seven years. The speed limit may be rounded either up or down from the 85th percentile speed. The speed limit may also be rounded down an additional 5 mph if findings are made that the road has conditions which would not be apparent to a motorist unfamiliar with the road. If speed surveys are taken at more than one location along a reviewed segment a “speed zone” for the entirety of the speed surveys can be used.
Two speed surveys were taken on April 20. The survey 200 feet west of Old Viejas Grade Road was conducted between 10:40 a.m. and 12:40 p.m. The 34 vehicles had an 85th percentile speed of 37.6 mph with 76 percent of the drivers within a 10-mph pace of 26-35 mph. The speed survey 630 feet west of Central Avenue was conducted from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. and measured 32 vehicles whose 85th percentile speed was 38.1 mph with 69 percent of the vehicles within a 28-37 mph pace. The 85th percentile for the speed zone was 37.1 mph.
