Welcome to the Circulation Element Update project webpage. This webpage contains important project information so that the community and other interested parties can stay informed about what the project has completed to date, as well as remain informed of any new information being developed as the project progresses.

What is the Circulation Element?

The Circulation Element is a component of the City's General Plan document. It is the City's "blue prints" for transportation within Oceanside. The Circulation Element establishes policies and goals for the various transportation components listed below:

1. Existing and Future Roadways;
2. Intersections and roadway segments levels of service standards;
3. Public Transit and Rail;
4. Neighborhood Traffic Calming;
5. Transportation Demand Management (vehicle trip reduction measures);
6. Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) technologies (use of emerging technologies);
7. Bicycle and Equestrian Facilities; and
8. Pedestrian Facilities.

Each of these transportation components are discussed in greater detail in other sections of this project webpage.

It is important to understand that the Circulation Element provides the vision for how goods and people will move throughout our City, which is based upon established goals. These goals are then bolstered by policies that can be implemented to achieve the goals and objectives as laid out. A clearly crafted and publicly-supported Circulation Element details the image a community has of itself now, and what it hopes this image will be over the life of the document.

The growth in population and business is wonderful for our City, but it brings with it increased congestion on the existing roadway network, congestion that must be addressed in order to continue to preserve the character of our neighborhoods while providing the highest possible quality of life and access to work, shopping, schools and other destinations that Oceanside residents, employees and visitors come to expect.

The availability of non-automobile options has also greatly increased from the time the Circulation Element was last amended in 1995. The Coaster, Metrolink, Amtrak and the new Sprinter Rail systems, whose northern terminus is the Oceanside Transit Center Downtown, provide connectivity with San Diego, Los Angeles and various North County cities to the east. Beyond rail, other non-automobile options are bus transit, bicycle, pedestrian, telecommuting, and car and van pooling.

The net effect of this growth and change is that it provides a unique opportunity at this time for Oceanside to recraft the Circulation Element to reflect these changes, and how to best take advantage of them.