Crime & Safety
Should Caltrans Increase the Speed Limit on State Route 75?
The agency has recommended that the speed limit rise from 40 to 45 mph, but critics disagree. What do you think?
In a survey completed earlier this year, the state Department of Transportation recommended that the speed limit on a stretch of state Route 75 just outside Coronado should rise from 40 to 45 mph.
The road in question begins where SR-75 curves toward Coronado and the Silver Strand and is less than a half mile from Delaware Street to the western city limits of Imperial Beach.
IB officials opposes an increase because of concern for a main corridor for bike traffic at 7th Street, seniors who live at the nearby Bernardo Shores RV Park and other possible risks to public safety.
Find out what's happening in Coronadowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Some along state Route 75. Last fall, those who live in the Cays asked the city to work with them to have the speed limit lowered to 45 mph where the route meets Coronado Cays Boulevard.
Neither Coronado nor Imperial Beach leaders have control over the highway. Oversight lies in Caltrans' hands.
Find out what's happening in Coronadowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The state agency's study on the IB proposal found an average speed of 42 mph from 7th to Rainbow Drive, but 46 mph was the average for 85 percent of the motorists surveyed.
About 30,000 cars travel the portion of state Route 75, also considered Palm Avenue, each day.
CalTrans found a rate of 1.45 crashes per every million vehicle miles there, but data obtained by the city from the San Diego County Sheriff Department, collected over a different time period, found 2.95 crashes for every million vehicle miles.
The public are invited to comment in a public hearing about the matter at an Imperial Beach City Council meeting Wednesday. CalTrans officials will be there to take questions.
What do you think?
Tell us in the comments: Do you support or oppose a speed increase on SR-75?