Traffic Nightmare: The Quandary Of School Drop-Offs, Pick-Ups In Murrieta And Elsewhere

MURRIETA, CA — Parents who drive to drop off and pick up their kids at school can create a traffic nightmare across local neighborhoods, including in Murrieta.

Can cities and school districts build their way out of the traffic jams? It's a never-ending question for agencies.

The Murrieta Traffic Commission was challenged last month with one such inquiry: Should the city install a designated pick-up/drop-off parking lane and center lane stripe on Kingwood Road, between Torrey Pines Road and Tennyson Road, to help address traffic and safety concerns at Buchanan Elementary School?

During the commission's Nov. 19 meeting, the proposal was unanimously approved.

Buchanan Elementary School at 40121 Torrey Pines Road is home to 874 students, grades TK through 5. The city's Vintage Reserve Park is nearby.

A segment of Kingwood Road runs adjacent to the park. At that point, the road is 44 feet wide. A 25 mph speed limit is posted.

To accommodate school drop-offs and pick-ups on Kingwood Road, the city is designating a 10-foot loading lane with signage on the northbound side. Another 12 feet will be reserved for northbound through traffic. On the southbound side, the city will designate the full 22 feet as a shared travel lane and loading lane. A centerline stripe will be added to clearly delineate northbound and southbound traffic.

New signage will be installed adjacent to the pick-up/drop-off area, designating it exclusively for passenger loading/unloading. Parking will be prohibited between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. on school days.

Additionally, the city is allowing the Murrieta Valley Unified School District to construct a pedestrian walkway from the school playground into Vintage Reserve Park as an additional access point to the campus.

The full project is expected to be completed in 2026. The estimated cost to the city for the Kingwood Road work is $12,200. Measure A and Gas Tax funds will be utilized, according to city documents.

During the approximately 30-minute Murrieta Traffic Commission discussion about the project, commissioner Gianni Limogiannis lamented, "I think at the end of the day, ..., I don't know if this is something that we can fix with roads.

"I think it's more of a culture of helicopter parenting, where more parents no longer let their kids ride their bikes and walk to school," Limogiannis continued.

The schools were "probably designed with the expectation that more children independently took themselves to school," the commissioner said. "So, I don't know how we can really stop all these traffic jams from occurring at schools other than encouraging less parents to drive their vehicles to school."

There were no public comments about the proposal.