El Nopal: Speed is the Problem

El Nopal curves in Lakeside

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but not to their own version of the facts.

Fact One: A section of El Nopal  in unincorporated Lakeside near the boundary with Santee has two sharp curves that have contributed to a higher-than-average accident rate over the past decade.

Fact Two: An overwhelming majority of those accidents were caused by speeding motorists.

Fact Three:  Traffic models by SANDAG engineers show that vehicular traffic on El Nopal  in the county’s jurisdiction will increase over the next 25 years regardless of whether or not Mast Boulevard is extended from Santee into Lakeside.

Fact Four: Of the 46 traffic accidents occurring at the curves over the past decade, less than 6 percent involved serious injuries; 87 percent of these
mishaps were the result of unlawful driving actions such as speeding, driving on the wrong side of the road or driving under the influence.

Barring any improvements by the county to straighten the curves, the only thing that will make El Nopal safer is for motorists to slow down and observe the posted  20 m.p.h. speed limit through the curves.

The city of Santee cannot solve a safety problem on a road outside its jurisdiction where the leading cause of accidents is unsafe driving.

In February, the Santee City Council voted 4 to 1 to create a new pedestrian and bicycle trail rather than a paved connection into Lakeside at the eastern end of Mast Boulevard.

The proposed trail will enable Santee to become a more walkable and bicycle friendly community, a key goal embodied in a draft update of the city’s General Plan Circulation Element.  Children in the area will have a new, safer route to walk or bicycle to schools in Santee.

An added bonus is that the trail project will also improve a blighted corridor that has been used for illegal dumping.

Accident Statistics Offer Insight on El Nopal-Mast Blvd. Issue



El Nopal's sharp curves in Lakeside 

Critics claim that a traffic hazard has been created on El Nopal because the city of Santee has not completed a proposed connection of Mast Boulevard eastward into the unincorporated community of Lakeside.

This argument relies on the assumption that the cause of the accidents occurring on El Nopal will somehow disappear if and when the city and county pave the 1,000-foot gap of Mast Boulevard that exists today.

Critics refer to El Nopal as a “detour” route around the missing link of Mast Boulevard. In fact, El Nopal is a decades-old residential collector street that will remain in existence regardless of what happens with Mast Boulevard.

It should be noted that Lakeside’s portion of El Nopal has two sharp curves, which is where many of the accidents have occurred.

State accident statistics compiled over the last decade show that a majority of accidents on El Nopal were the result of speeding motorists.

From 2002 to 2012, there were 46 traffic accidents (including one fatality) along the county’s stretch of El Nopal between Los Ranchitos and Riverford roads where the “S” curves are located.  Less than 6 percent of those collisions were serious-injury accidents. The lone fatal accident occurred in 2004 and involved a motorcycle rider.

During the same 10-year period, there was one fatal accident and nine other vehicle collisions in Santee’s jurisdiction along El Nopal from Magnolia Avenue to Los Ranchitos Road.  The lone fatal accident occurred in 2005 and involved a motorcyclist who was under the influence of alcohol.

Here’s the breakdown of how the 46 accidents occurred over the past decade along the section of El Nopal containing the two sharp curves:

• Traveling at unsafe speed -- 54.3 percent
• Driving on wrong side of road – 19.6 percent
• Driving under the influence  -- 13 percent
• Improper turning – 8.7 percent
• Right of way violations – 4.3 percent

Completing the gap on Mast Boulevard between Lakeside and Santee would cost the city of Santee $4.5 million. The county would have to spend $1.7 million to complete the Lakeside portion.

Even if the city completed the Mast Boulevard connection to the east, the sharp curves along Lakeside’s portion of El Nopal, which is governed by the county, would still remain.  The county’s transportation master plan envisions no future improvements for El Nopal, which is described as “a 2-lane road…sufficient to meet projected traffic volumes.”

Moreover, connecting Mast Boulevard through to Lakeside would increase traffic on the Santee side by an estimated 35 percent.  Completing this connection also would funnel truck traffic serving the industrial parks in Lakeside into Santee’s residential neighborhoods and past two high schools.

Completing Mast Boulevard would offer a convenient route for a few, but it will expose many Santee residents to higher traffic volumes and greater truck traffic.