Jefferson Street Closure Frustrates Carlsbad Drivers

Residents in Carlsbad's village area of town are miffed. One of their main thoroughfares, Jefferson Street, is closed to through traffic heading out of the downtown Carlsbad area, east over I-5 along the Buena Vista Lagoon and Nature Preserve. The heavily traveled road, which leads to the Westfield shopping center, Walmart, and access to Highway 78, has been closed since January 11.

The city is constructing two new 4200-foot sewer pipes from the Buena Vista sewage lift station on Jefferson and Marion Roads. The closure is expected to last through June, with periodic closure through December. However, detour signs and barricades direct traffic to the northbound on-ramp of I-5 at Los Flores Avenue without explanation of why the road is closed or how long it will be shut down.

The ten homes overlooking the lagoon along the 2300 block — a closed portion of Jefferson — are allowed local access back to Los Flores Avenue. While visiting the site for a few minutes, this reporter saw three cars drive around the barricades to see how far they could go. They were stopped by a fixed barricade at the I-5 bridge.