Project Description

The City of Oceanside is currently working with the residents of Jeffries Ranch to study the feasibility of establishing alternative public roadway access to State Route 76. The Jeffries Ranch neighborhood area is located within the northeastern section of the City of Oceanside (see Vicinity Map).

In Spring of 2010, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) had begun the widening of State Route 76 from Melrose Drive to just east of Mission Road. Caltrans intends to widen State Route 76 from the existing two-lane roadway to a four-lane expressway. This widening included the closure of the existing access at Jeffries Ranch Road to State Route 76 (see Map). The intersection of Jeffries Ranch Road at State Route 76 was unsignalized prior to the closure. Currently this intersection is closed with temporary barriers during construction activities along State Route 76. Caltrans intends to make the closure of Jeffries Ranch Road permanent, with only a barricaded emergency access.

At the direction of the City Council, staff is working with the residents of Jeffries Ranch to complete a feasibility study to re-establish public roadway access from the neighborhood to State Route 76. City staff has commissioned The IBI Group to provide consultant services for $64,928. The IBI Group will complete detailed environmental review, engineering design of two alternative roadway access concepts, and neighborhood traffic analyses.

The Feasibility Study

There is the potential to develop a number of access alternative options for the Jeffries Ranch neighborhood. The challenge is to develop an alternative that will be acceptable for the neighborhood residents, Caltrans and the City.

IBI Group is working with City staff and the residents of Jeffries Ranch to develop potential access solutions that are feasible and result in minimal environmental, traffic and design impacts on the community. In order to achieve any potential solution for the Jeffries Ranch neighborhood, the following planning and engineering studies must be conducted.

Preliminary Environmental Review - a review of environmental conditions surrounding the northern (along SR 76) and eastern (existing open space) portions of the Jeffries Ranch community will be conducted to identify the existing environmental constraints and required mitigation related to two selected access alternatives. An analysis to evaluate and summarize existing and developed environmental data will be completed for the key topics of land use, biological resources (including wetlands and sensitive species/habitats), cultural resources, noise, hazardous materials, floodplains, and agricultural resources. The preliminary environmental review will help the City make an informed decision regarding the best alternative to consider for the next stage of the project.

Conceptual Design Engineering - development of two conceptual designs of alternative access points for the Jeffries Ranch neighborhood will be completed. The conceptual design phase of the project will include conceptual engineering design drawings for each alternative. The conceptual designs will identify, at a minimum, any potential land acquisitions, easement requirements, major utility conflicts, proposed horizontal and vertical alignments, design speeds, and sight-distance considerations. A preliminary cost estimate for each access alternative to help the City decide if any alternative is a viable and cost-reasonable alternative for moving forward as the recommended access alternative.

Traffic Analysis - a detailed traffic analysis for each potential roadway access alternative will be completed. In addition to two potential access alternatives, a “No Build” (do nothing scenario) and a “Traffic Signal on SR 76 at Jeffries Ranch Road” will also be analyzed. The traffic analysis would include existing, existing modified for each alternative access, and a future conditions (Build Out) for each alternative. The traffic operations analysis would be compiled with the appropriate tables, graphics, and appendices into a traffic impact analysis report.

Public Involvement - the affected communities will be included in the scoping and planning process through use of public meetings, individual agency meetings, and the relay of pertinent information in a timely manner. A total of three public meetings will be conducted at the San Luis Rey Valley United Methodist Church, located at 5570 Old Ranch Road:

1. Public Meeting #1: August 17th from 6pm to 8pm. The public meeting was conducted with the community to determine the major areas of concern among affected residents and to identify which access alternatives to State Route 76 are preferred. A copy of the presentation materials can be viewed here. A summary of the first public meeting can be viewed here.
2. Public Meeting #2: September 13th from 6pm to 8pm. Refined public input received at the first public meeting and presented two access alternatives to be studied in detail. Two alternatives were developed for the westerly access option at Jeffries Ranch Road at State Route 76 and were presented to the community at this meeting. The two alternatives presented were: right turn pockets in and out only at Jeffries Ranch Road at State Route 76 or a frontage road from Jeffries Ranch Road to the Caltrans proposed traffic signal to the east. Conceptual design illustrations for these two alternatives can be viewed here. In addition to the two proposed alternatives described above, a “Do Nothing” alternative and a traffic signal at Jeffries Ranch Road at State Route 76 will also be studied. A copy of the presentation materials can be viewed here. A summary of the 2nd public meeting can be viewed here.
3. Public Meeting #3:The 3rd and last public meeting will be held in the City Council chambers on December 8th to review the final results of the feasibility study and to receive direction from Council.

Feasibility Report - The outcome of the environmental review, conceptual design and traffic analysis has been compiled into a feasibility report that also details the design requirements and projected costs for each access alternative. Alternative accesses studied include a right turn in and out only from Jeffries Ranch Road to SR76, a frontage road from Jeffries Ranch Road that will run eastbound and parallel to SR76 and intersect with the proposed future traffic signal at the Singh property, and a No Build alternative. A copy of the Draft Executive Summary for the Feasibility Report can be reviewed here. Preliminary designs for each alternative can be reviewed here. A copy of the entire Draft Feasibility Report can be reviewed here.