Segment C of the Leucadia Streetscape was supposed to be finished by summer 2025. It runs from Jupiter Street to La Costa Avenue. The City of Encinitas now expects it to wrap up in late fall 2026. Most of the gap between those two dates went into the ground, under the lanes people drive every day.
Engineering Director Dan Nutter told The Coast News in July that the timeline grew by about a year and a half. That happened after the City Council approved more drainage work, including a new storm drain system for the corridor. So the streetscape most people pictured has turned out to be a pipe project for most of its run. The wider sidewalks, the roundabouts and the trees were always going to come last, and they still have to be built.
Why the street sat still while the schedule moved
If North 101 looked like the same orange barricades week after week, that is because most of the progress was buried. The City's project page, last updated August 28, lists what's finished and what's left:
Finished underground
- All of the 60-inch, 66-inch and 36-inch storm drain pipe between Jupiter Street and La Costa Avenue
- All storm drain laterals and collector pipes in the southbound median lane
- New water main from Jupiter Street up to Avocado Street
Still in progress below the surface
- 24-inch storm drain pipe, cleanout boxes, laterals and connector pipes
- More sewer line near Moorgate Road
- Water main from Avocado Street north to La Costa Avenue
The City says sidewalks, curbs, gutters, inlets and driveways can only start once the underground work is in place. Nutter said in July that the sidewalk and road work would get "up close and personal" with businesses over the following months. The northbound lanes are already paved. The City page also mentions southbound median-lane paving planned for late July, but it doesn't say whether that work is done. Treat the southbound side as unconfirmed until the City posts an update.
What's still coming between Jupiter and La Costa
Once the pipes are done, the finished Segment C is supposed to include:
- New roundabouts at Jupiter Street and Moorgate Road
- A crosswalk and pedestrian signal at Avocado Street
- Wider sidewalks and designated bike lanes
- New streetlights, benches and bike racks
- Hundreds of new trees
Two official estimates for the finish line are out there. The City's page says late fall 2026. In July, Nutter told The Coast News the City expected to finish by October. He also said the project was only about a month behind schedule, which he called "pretty darn good" for a job this size. With October starting tomorrow and surface work still ahead, the City's late-fall estimate is the more cautious one. As of today, the City hasn't announced a ribbon cutting.
Segment C is the biggest piece of a larger project. Leucadia Streetscape broke ground in January 2021 and covers a 2.5-mile corridor at a total cost of more than $65 million. Segment C alone is estimated at $32 million.
The businesses that stayed open through it
The strain on the corridor's businesses has been real, and the people running them have said so publicly. Stacy Reddell is executive director of the Leucadia 101 Mainstreet Association. She told The Coast News that sales fell an average of 25% to 40% over the past year among the 20 businesses she surveyed.
"Revenue got stagnant as soon as the project started." David Shapiro, co-owner of The Leucadian
Shapiro said losing street parking has made it harder to book events at The Leucadian. Leucadia Donut Shoppe owner Tom Chu said many northbound customers drive all the way to La Costa Avenue to make a U-turn back to his shop. Jeff Schade owns Leucadia Cyclery near Avocado Street. In February he hung a six-foot sign on a piece of equipment parked outside his storefront. Giuseppe Georgees runs the walk-up window at Sip-N-Sea, and he has been part of the same conversation.
The City says access to driveways and businesses stays open throughout construction. During the southbound work, curbside parking on the west side may be restricted, but parking is open on the east side where the road is finished. If you're heading north to one of these shops, plan for a turnaround.
At least one new restaurant opened in the middle of all this. Coast Thai-Way, a Lao Thai restaurant, is now at 698 North Coast Highway 101, on the corner of Daphne. That's the space Mozy Café used to occupy. Owners Stella Bayphouthongkham and Bee Sukcharoen also co-own Mekong Cuisine Lao & Thai on Convoy Street. The Coast News describes the Leucadia menu as built around seafood and seasonal produce, alongside family recipes.
The 20th LeucadiART Walk on August 30 drew about 8,000 people and more than 100 artists, craftspeople, potters and musicians, according to The Coast News. The next dates on the calendar:
- Leucadia Farmers Market: Sundays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Oak Crest Middle School, 675 Balour Drive
- Shop Small Saturday: November 28, noon to 3 p.m., a joint event with sidewalk sales, live music and local specials
The next big change happens at the rail tracks
The streetscape's sidewalks and crosswalks were designed to connect with crossings the railroad corridor doesn't have yet. Leucadia has no legal pedestrian crossing between Leucadia Boulevard and La Costa Avenue, a stretch of 1.3 miles. The City plans new at-grade crossings at Phoebe Street and Grandview Street, which would split that gap into thirds. They would also tie into the pathways and pedestrian crossings along the new Highway 101 work.
That project moved forward twice this year. The California Public Utilities Commission approved both crossings on February 5, 2026. On June 17, the City Council set aside another $300,000 for final engineering. Then on August 19, City Manager Jennifer Campbell announced $33.6 million in federal grant money for three rail projects. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported the announcement the next day.
Project | Location | Estimated cost | Status as of August 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
Pedestrian crossings | Grandview St. and Phoebe St., Leucadia | $6 million | Design about 70% complete |
Train-horn quiet zone | E St. to Leucadia Blvd., with upgrades at E St., D St. and Leucadia Blvd. crossings | $13.4 million | Waiver work started with the CPUC and Federal Railroad Administration |
Pedestrian undercrossing | Verdi Ave., Cardiff | $16 million | Final design done, CPUC approval next |
Campbell said the City spent $77,000 on consulting to win the grants, and the City has to provide a 20% local match. The quiet zone would use a warning system similar to San Clemente's. Once it's installed, trains would no longer have to sound their horns at the crossings between E Street and Leucadia Boulevard. It would be the city's second quiet zone, after the one set up near Chesterfield Drive in Cardiff in 2019. The new Phoebe and Grandview crossings would get wayside horns. These are stationary devices, set off by approaching trains, that point their sound at the crossing so trains don't have to blow their own horns.
One piece of west-side beach access is already done. The Grandview beach stairs at the north end of Neptune Avenue closed for repairs on February 3. They reopened after the work was substantially finished on May 22, in time for Memorial Day weekend.
The two segments that still have no construction money
When Segment C is finished, North 101 still won't be done end to end. Segment A2, from Marcheta Street to Basil Street, was finished in 2022. In 2023 the City added striping, a bike lane, median changes and flashing crosswalks at Diana Street and North Court between Basil Street and La Costa Avenue. Segment B, from Basil Street to Jupiter Street, and Segment A1, from A Street to Marcheta Street, both have preliminary designs. Neither has construction funding yet. So once the roundabouts at Jupiter and Moorgate are in, the stretch from Basil to Jupiter will keep its 2023 interim striping until money comes through.
If you own along North 101 or just off it and want to know how the finished Segment C, and later the new rail crossings, might show up in your home's value, Abundant Path Homes can walk you through a plain-language estimate of where it stands today. Get Your Free Home Valuation.
