In February, Leucadia Cyclery owner Jeff Schade hung a six-foot sign on a piece of construction equipment parked about 10 feet from his shop on North Coast Highway 101. "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 in July. As a joke it worked. It was also a fair summary of how Segment C of the Leucadia Streetscape project has looked from a storefront.
Eight months later the stretch between Jupiter Street and La Costa Avenue is close to done. The City's target is still late fall 2026. While the crews have been working toward that date, the storefronts have been changing too. One of Leucadia's longest-running shops closes at the end of the month, a well-known restaurant has a new owner, and a new kitchen just south of the work zone opened in the old Mozy Café space. When the barriers come down, the businesses lining the new sidewalks will be a somewhat different group from the one that was there when work began.
What's Left Before the Barriers Come Down
Segment C is the third piece of a 2.5-mile corridor plan. The whole project broke ground in January 2021 and costs more than $65 million in total. Segment C accounts for an estimated $32 million and was first scheduled to finish by summer 2025. In 2024 the City Council added a new storm drain system to the scope, which pushed the timeline back about a year and a half, according to Director of Engineering Dan Nutter in the same Coast News report.
The underground work is mostly behind it. The City's North Highway 101 projects page, last updated September 17, says all of the 60-, 66- and 36-inch storm drain pipe is in, and that crews are still working on water and drainage connections. In the August council update, staff said crews were installing curb, gutter, sidewalks and driveways along the west side from La Costa to Jupiter.
The remaining work is mostly at street level. Staff listed the final work items in an August 26 City Council presentation:
| Remaining item | Scope listed by the City |
|---|---|
| Roundabouts | Finish the roundabout at Jupiter Street and the second roundabout in the segment |
| Trees | Install 116 trees |
| Streetlights | Install 45 streetlights |
| Landscaping | Irrigation and mulch in planted areas |
| Roadway | Final asphalt paving, signing and striping from La Costa to Jupiter |
| Utilities | Complete connections on the west edge of the project |
The City's project page also lists wider sidewalks, designated bike lanes, crosswalks and a pedestrian signal at Avocado Street, new benches and bike racks for Segment C.
The target date has moved more than once. After the original summer 2025 date was pushed back, the City said in July that it expected Segment C to be finished by October. The City's September update then said "late fall 2026," and the August council deck says "late 2026." For planning purposes, the reasonable reading is that the work runs into the holiday season.
How to Reach the Shops in the Meantime
If a business looks hard to get to, the lane setup is usually the reason. The August 26 presentation described the southbound side like this, and the details may have changed since then as crews finish the west side:
- All southbound through traffic uses the median lane.
- From La Costa Avenue to Grandview, the western lane is only for reaching private driveways.
- South of Grandview, you reach local businesses by turning into the western lane.
- You can enter the western lane at Grandview and at Avocado.
- Traffic merges back into the median lane at Avocado and at Jupiter.
Northbound, the July 14 Streetscape update said the northbound left-turn and U-turn lane at La Costa Avenue was open. It also said parking was available in the parking pods on the east side, where the road was already finished.
The La Costa U-turn is a real detour. Leucadia Donut Shoppe owner Tom Chu told The Coast News that many northbound customers had to drive up to La Costa to turn around. The City said it planned more signage to show pedestrians the designated crossings and drivers where U-turns are allowed.
The project team takes questions at [email protected] and (760) 512-3800, and you can sign up for project alerts by email. According to the August presentation, the City is also holding monthly in-person meetings and posting monthly drone footage.
What the Construction Years Have Cost the Corridor
The detours matter because these businesses depend on people walking in. Stacy Reddell, executive director of the Leucadia 101 Mainstreet Association, surveyed 20 corridor businesses. She told The Coast News in July that their sales had dropped an average of 25% to 40% over the previous year.
The same article named several of the shops that have kept their doors open through the work:
- Leucadia Cyclery, run by Jeff Schade, near Avocado Street
- The Leucadian Bar, where co-owner David Shapiro said losing street parking has made it harder to book events
- Leucadia Donut Shoppe, owned by Tom Chu
- Sip-N-Sea, Giuseppe Georgees' walk-up window shop
- Surfhouse Hotel and Coffee Coffee, both co-owned by Nikolas Harth
Several of these owners said they support the project and want it finished quickly. Schade said he hoped the City would hold a community celebration once construction ends, to bring customers back.
The Storefronts Are Turning Over Faster Than the Street
Leucadia Liquor's last day is expected at the end of October, which falls this weekend. Kamil Mansoor bought the North Coast Highway 101 store in 1992 and announced he is retiring and closing it permanently after six decades of the shop being in business, The Coast News reported on October 19. The property was bought in 2023 by Peeshee LLC, which is managed by Saeed Shahri.
The same column reported that Shahri's Athena Restaurant Group, which also owns The Saloon and Shelter in Encinitas, has bought the Vigilucci's in Leucadia. The plan is to replace it with a new concept.
The newest arrival is a little south of the construction zone. Coast Thai-Way opened at 698 North Coast Highway 101, on the corner of Daphne, in the space Mozy Café once held. Owners Stella Bayphouthongkham and Bee Sukcharoen also co-own Mekong Cuisine Lao & Thai on Convoy Street. In its September review, The Coast News wrote that the Leucadia menu leans on seafood and seasonal produce. Alongside the usual curries, it serves Lao dishes such as nam khao tod, a crispy coconut rice salad, and khao piek sen, a chicken noodle soup made with hand-cut rice noodles.
Leucadia 101 Mainstreet Association treasurer Kevin Doyle told The Coast News that the street plan was first proposed in 2008. The liquor store property sale, the Vigilucci's purchase and the new Thai kitchen all came within the last few years.
What Comes After Segment C
Segment C won't be the last change to this stretch. Preliminary designs are done for Segment B, from Basil Street to Jupiter, and for Segment A1, from A Street to Marcheta Street, but neither has construction funding yet.
On the rail side, the California Public Utilities Commission approved two new pedestrian crossings over the Leucadia tracks at Phoebe and Grandview streets on February 5. In June, the City set aside another $300,000 for final engineering. In August, The Coast News reported that Encinitas was selected for up to $33.6 million in federal rail-safety funding. That money covers about six miles of corridor, including the new Leucadia crossings, a Verdi Avenue undercrossing and upgrades at existing crossings.
Dates for the Rest of the Fall
Downtown, Encinitas 101's event calendar has three dates on South Coast Highway 101 between now and the holidays:
- Safe Trick-or-Treat, Saturday, October 31, 5 to 8 p.m., with downtown businesses open late, live music and family art activities
- Holiday Street Fair, Sunday, November 22, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Shop Small Saturday, November 28, noon to 3 p.m., with sidewalk sales and specials at participating businesses
Up the road in Leucadia, the Leucadia 101 Mainstreet Association hosts events at the Leucadia Farmers Market at 675 Balour Drive, away from the construction.
Cardiff is facing a similar question about its own coastal walkway, which we covered in our look at the Cardiff sunset walk repairs. There's more on the city in our Encinitas neighborhood guide.
If you own a home or a rental near North 101 and want to know how the finished streetscape might affect your parking, access or plans for your property, Roy Wannamaker is glad to walk the corridor with you and talk it through. Let's Connect.
