Leucadia's Last Streetscape Stretch Is Easier to Reach Than It Looks

"Up close and personal." That's how Encinitas Director of Engineering Dan Nutter described the sidewalk and road work headed for businesses on North Coast Highway 101 this summer, as quoted in The Coast News on July 31. Two and a half months later, crews are working on curbs, gutters and sidewalks right in front of the shops between Jupiter Street and La Costa Avenue.

The work that actually held up Segment C is buried under the road, and it's done. So getting around the north end of Leucadia this fall comes down to a few turns and parking spots the City has already opened.

The slow part is already underground

Segment C was supposed to wrap up by summer 2025. Then the City Council approved extra drainage work, including a new storm drain system meant to cut down on flooding along the corridor. Nutter told The Coast News that this added about a year and a half to the schedule. This segment alone has an estimated $32 million price tag. The whole Leucadia Streetscape project, which broke ground in January 2021, is over $65 million.

That drainage pipe is now in the ground. By the City's July 14 project update, crews had laid 3,585 linear feet of 60-inch storm drain pipe and 308 linear feet of 66-inch pipe. The City's North Highway 101 project page, updated September 17, 2026, says all of the 60-inch, 66-inch and 36-inch pipe is installed. The same page still targets late fall 2026 for completion.

So the remaining work is connecting things up and finishing the surface: water and drainage hookups, storm drain laterals and inlets, plus new curb, gutter, sidewalk, bus pad and driveways on the west side. It's noisy and you notice it. It also goes faster than digging trenches for six-foot pipe.

What's left to finish before late fall

At its August 26 meeting, the City Council got a presentation that said half-roundabouts had been installed at Jupiter and Grandview and that the road had been paved and striped from Jupiter to La Costa. The same slides listed what was still to do:

• Finish the roundabouts at Jupiter and Grandview
• Complete utility connections on the west edge of the project
• Install 116 trees and 45 streetlights
• Add irrigation and mulch to the landscaped areas
• Lay final asphalt and add signs and striping for all traffic from La Costa to Jupiter

City sources don't agree on where the second roundabout is. The project page lists new roundabouts at Jupiter Street and Moorgate Road. The August slides say Jupiter and Grandview. Either way, the finished stretch is set to have two roundabouts, wider sidewalks, marked bike lanes, new crosswalks and a pedestrian signal at Avocado Street, plus benches and bike racks. The City hasn't announced a specific completion date or ribbon-cutting yet. "Late fall 2026" is the official target.

Getting in and out right now

The biggest complaint in the July coverage was the U-turn. Tom Chu, owner of Leucadia Donut Shoppe, told The Coast News that northbound customers were driving on to La Costa Avenue to turn around. The City's own updates describe a layout that makes that loop easier to plan:

Lane shifts move as crews work along the west side, so treat the table as the most recent official picture, not a promise for any given day. The City's outreach team takes questions at (760) 512-3800 and [email protected], and you can sign up for project alerts by email.

The block that kept going

Within about 60 street numbers on the 101, you'll find a bar, a bike shop and a donut shop that have stayed open through the whole Segment C job.

The Leucadian, 1542 N. Coast Highway 101. Co-owner David Shapiro told The Coast News that losing street parking had discouraged customers from booking events. If you're planning a gathering this fall, the east-side parking pods are worth a mention in the invite.

Leucadia Cyclery, 1560 N. Coast Hwy 101. It's open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends, according to the shop's contact page. Owner Jeff Schade got a laugh out of the slow stretches. In February he hung a six-foot sign on a piece of construction equipment parked near Avocado Street. A bike shop sits well on a block that's getting marked bike lanes.

Leucadia Donut Shoppe, 1604 N. Coast Hwy 101. Directory listings show it open 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily. If you're coming from the south, keep the La Costa U-turn in mind.

Sip-N-Sea, a walk-up shop on the same corridor. Owner Giuseppe Georgees was photographed for The Coast News at his walk-up window behind orange barriers. Sip-N-Sea's site takes online orders, which makes a quick stop easier while the curb is still being built.

Why it matters to drive here: Stacy Reddell, executive director of the Leucadia 101 MainStreet Association, told The Coast News that the 20 businesses she surveyed saw sales fall an average of 25% to 40% over the past year. That's their own count, reported in July 2026. The City's project page says it plainly too: "Please support our local Leucadia businesses during construction."

Why the north end finishes first

Once Segment C is done, Leucadia will have two finished pieces of streetscape with interim striping between them. Segment A2, from Marcheta Street to Basil Street, was finished in August 2022. In 2023 the stretch from Basil to La Costa got interim striping with a lane diet, a dedicated bike lane and median changes, along with flashing crosswalks at Diana Street and North Court. Designs for Segment B, from Basil to Jupiter, and Segment A1, from A Street to Marcheta, are complete, but neither has construction funding yet. Until that money comes through, the Jupiter to La Costa blocks will be the most finished part of North 101 north of Basil, with the roundabouts, the Avocado Street signal and the new trees.

Farther south on the 101, there's food that wasn't around when Segment C started. Coast Thai-Way, a Lao-Thai restaurant at 698 N. Coast Highway 101, was announced by San Diego Magazine in April and now takes pickup orders. Oto Sushi moved into the former MRKT SPACE at 782 N. Coast Highway 101 after arriving from Laguna Beach, and it's taking reservations on Resy.

The weekends between now and the finish

Leucadia 101 still runs the Sunday Leucadia-Encinitas Farmers Market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with more than 90 booths. The market is at Oak Crest Middle School, 675 Balour Drive, away from the 101 work zone. The association's last big street event, the 20th annual LeucadiART Walk on August 30, brought out an estimated 8,000 people and more than 100 artists, musicians and food vendors, according to The Coast News.

To the south, the separate Encinitas 101 association has downtown Encinitas events planned. Safe Trick-or-Treat runs October 31 from 5 to 8 p.m. The Holiday Street Fair is November 22, Shop Small Saturday is November 28, and Deck the Windows holiday art week runs November 29 through December 6. Those are downtown events, not Leucadia ones. If the City sticks to its late-fall target, the trees and streetlights from Jupiter to La Costa could be in place by the end of that holiday stretch.

If you own near the Jupiter to La Costa stretch and want to know how a finished street with roundabouts and new trees fits into your home's story, Kara Kay & Associates can walk the block with you and give you a clear, current read. Request a Home Valuation, and we'll base it on what's actually built on your part of the 101.