Leucadia Streetscape Construction on Highway 101: What’s Next

In February, Jeff Schade got tired of looking at a tractor. A piece of construction equipment had been parked about 10 feet from his storefront at Leucadia Cyclery, so he hung a six-foot sign on it and left it up. "The tractor did not start its engine for three weeks and sat in front of Avocado Street with no movement," he told The Coast News this summer.

That sign belongs to the long middle of the Leucadia Streetscape. The project's end looks different. Most of the big work in Segment C, which runs from Jupiter Street to La Costa Avenue, has been under the road. What's left now includes water and drainage connections that branch toward individual properties. In July, Director of Engineering Dan Nutter said sidewalk and road work would be "up close and personal" with businesses over the next few months. By his account, this fall puts the construction closer to the shop doors than it has ever been.

A Finish Line That Kept Moving

People who live in Leucadia have heard a lot of completion dates. Here is how the target for Segment C has shifted:

Most of the extra time came from one decision. The City Council added a new storm drain system to the job, and Nutter said that pushed the timeline back by about a year and a half. Segment C has an estimated price of $32 million. It is one piece of a 2.5-mile corridor project that broke ground in January 2021 and costs more than $65 million in total. Kevin Doyle is treasurer of the Leucadia 101 MainStreet Association and a former city Planning Commissioner. He points out that the project was first proposed in 2008 and could have been finished more than a decade ago if construction had started in 2010 as planned.

The Big Pipe Is In. The Connections Are Next

The City's Sept. 17 update is the most recent official status. It says all of the 60-inch, 66-inch and 36-inch underground storm drain pipe is in. That pipe is what kept heavy equipment in the middle of the road for so long.

Here is what crews are still working on, according to the same update:

• Cleanout boxes, storm drain laterals and inlets between Jupiter Street and La Costa Avenue
• Water service laterals and water main along the same stretch
• New curb, gutter, sidewalk, bus pad, bus shelter pad and driveways on the west side of North Coast Highway 101, south of La Costa Avenue

Between Jupiter Street and La Costa Avenue, the remaining list is still water and drainage work, and laterals and service lines are the pieces that link the main lines to individual properties. The new curb, sidewalk and driveway work the City lists is just south of La Costa Avenue on the west side. The City says to expect intermittent lane shifts, noise, dust, lighting and large construction vehicles. It also says access to driveways and businesses will be maintained.

Who Has Been Holding On

The Coast News visited the corridor on July 30, and the owners it talked to described the stretch you probably know.

Tom Chu owns Leucadia Donut Shoppe. He said northbound customers have trouble reaching his shop, and many end up driving on to La Costa Avenue to make a U-turn. He said sales this summer were down compared with past years. David Shapiro, co-owner of The Leucadian, said the loss of street parking has put customers off booking events there, and that revenue "got stagnant as soon as the project started." Giuseppe Georgees runs Sip-N-Sea from a walk-up window on the highway. He said he once saw a customer and the customer's dog nearly hit by a passing car out front, and the City has since put temporary orange barricades in front of his business.

Stacy Reddell, executive director of the Leucadia 101 MainStreet Association, surveyed 20 businesses on the corridor. On average, they reported sales declines of 25% to 40% over the year before the July report. Nutter's view is that the project is only about a month behind schedule, which he called "pretty darn good" for a construction job this size. Both things can be true. A job can be close to its revised schedule and still be hard on the shops along it.

Doyle described what concerns the association most about the last phase:

"My big concern right now is we're going to shut those businesses down for three to six months, and most of them won't make it."

He made that point in July, just as the City was saying the work would move up to the storefronts. That is why the months between now and the late-fall finish matter so much for these businesses.

Getting There While the Work Wraps Up

None of this requires a special trip. It just helps to know how the street works right now.

1. Northbound drivers should plan for the U-turn. Chu said many of his northbound customers have to go on to La Costa Avenue to turn around, and Reddell said not having a closer U-turn has been one of the biggest problems on the corridor.
2. Driveways stay open even when lanes shift. The City's current status says business and driveway access will be maintained throughout the work.
3. Patios are still allowed. On May 27, the City Council extended temporary outdoor dining in public and private parking spaces through July 1, 2027, while staff writes a permanent ordinance.
4. The City has business maps for the segment. The Segment C business maps are posted on the North Highway 101 project page, though the map files there are from 2024.

The busy stretch of Leucadia south of the work zone is also worth the trip. Leucadia 101 MainStreet used several businesses there as artist plazas for its 20th annual LeucadiART Walk on Aug. 30. They include Brown Studio and Atacama Surf Shop at 1144 N. Coast Hwy 101, Leucadia Art Gallery and Corner Frame Shop at 1038, Surfhouse Hotel and Coffee Coffee at 970, and The Mudd House at 802.

What the Finished Street Will Add

The City describes the completed Segment C this way: wider sidewalks, designated bike lanes, new pavement, new streetlights, crosswalks and a pedestrian signal at Avocado Street, new benches and bike racks, and hundreds of new trees. It also includes new roundabouts. The City's Sept. 17 page puts them at Jupiter Street and Moorgate Road. As of that update, nothing in the City's status says any roundabout or the Avocado signal is in use yet.

There is one more reason this finish is a big deal. Designs are complete for the next two segments, Segment B from Basil Street to Jupiter Street and Segment A1 from A Street to Marcheta Street. But construction funding for both has not yet been secured. Once Segment C is done, the stretch from Jupiter Street to La Costa Avenue should have its finished sidewalks, trees and crossings. Segment B, just south of Jupiter Street, will still be waiting on construction funding.

The Rest of the Fall Calendar

The Leucadia Farmers Market runs every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Oak Crest Middle School, 675 Balour Drive. When last checked, the association's future-events page said "No meetings/events scheduled at this time." For now, ordinary weekday and weekend visits are the main way the corridor gets traffic.

Downtown has a fuller lineup through the holidays:

• Safe Trick-or-Treat on Saturday, Oct. 31, from 5 to 8 p.m. downtown, with participating businesses, live music and activities at Pacific View Arts Center
• Día de los Muertos at the Encinitas Library on Nov. 1, from 3 to 5 p.m.
• Holiday Street Fair on Sunday, Nov. 22, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Shop Small Saturday on Nov. 28, from noon to 3 p.m.
• Holiday Parade on South Coast Highway 101 on Saturday, Dec. 5

If the City's late-fall estimate holds, Segment C could be finished around the time of the holiday parade. Until then, the City says business access will be maintained, and La Costa Avenue is the turnaround northbound drivers have been using to reach shops like Leucadia Donut Shoppe.

If you own a home near Leucadia's North Coast Highway 101 and want to know how the finished Streetscape might affect its value, Donna Seals can walk through it with you using local comparable sales. Get Your Free Home Valuation, and we can talk it over before the last barricades come down.