Leucadia's Stretch of Highway 101 Is Nearly Rebuilt. Here's How to Keep Showing Up Until It Is.

In February, Jeff Schade hung a six-foot sign as a joke on a piece of construction equipment parked about ten feet from Leucadia Cyclery, and he left it there. He told The Coast News that the tractor sat in front of Avocado Street for three weeks without starting its engine.

That was the deep-trench phase of Leucadia Streetscape Segment C, the stretch of North Coast Highway 101 between Jupiter Street and La Costa Avenue. That phase is now finished. The work left is the part built where the storefronts meet the street, so the last few weeks before the finish fall hardest on the businesses along it.

The Work Has Moved From the Trench to the Curb

The City of Encinitas updated its North Highway 101 project page on September 17. It says every section of the 60-inch, 66-inch and 36-inch underground storm drain pipe is installed. Crews are still on the smaller pieces between Jupiter and La Costa: cleanout boxes, storm drain laterals, inlets, water service laterals and the water main. South of La Costa Avenue, on the west side of the highway, they are building new curb, gutter, sidewalk, a bus pad, a bus shelter pad and driveways.

In July, the Coast News reported that crews had also paved the northbound lanes and laid about 1,000 feet of new water main. Dan Nutter, the City's Director of Engineering, said the sidewalk and road work would be "up close and personal" with businesses over the following months. The City says driveway and business access will stay open throughout. Its status note expects intermittent lane shifts, noise, dust, lighting and large construction vehicles.

The page closes with a request that is unusual on a public works page: "Please support our local Leucadia businesses during construction."

How the Finish Date Has Moved

Segment C broke ground in March 2024. The completion date has moved several times since. The table lists each version in order.

The biggest delay came from a scope change. After the City Council approved extra drainage work, including a new storm drain system, the timeline grew by about a year and a half, according to Nutter. In July, he described the project as only about a month behind schedule, which he called "pretty darn good" for a job this size. The current official target is late Fall 2026, and the City still calls that an anticipated date. It has not announced completion.

What a Routine Errand Costs Right Now

The construction has changed how people get to the shops. Tom Chu owns Leucadia Donut Shoppe, and he told The Coast News that many northbound customers have to drive on to La Costa Avenue to make a U-turn. He said summer sales were down from previous years. David Shapiro, co-owner of The Leucadian Bar, said the loss of street parking has discouraged customers from booking events. "Revenue got stagnant as soon as the project started," he said.

NBC San Diego visited the same block in August. Claire McDonald, a bartender at The Leucadian, described the street outside as chaotic. She said customers found visits inconvenient and the changing driving conditions confusing. Schade told the station that customers had said they couldn't get to his shop because of the turns, the parking and the access.

Stacy Reddell, executive director of the Leucadia 101 Mainstreet Association, surveyed 20 businesses on the corridor. She told The Coast News that their sales had fallen by an average of 25% to 40% over the past year. The association's treasurer, Kevin Doyle, gave the clearest sense of what the last phase could mean:

"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."

Sip-N-Sea shows why the curb phase is different from what came before. Owner Giuseppe Georgees serves customers through a walk-up window on the front of his shop. He said he had been told his building would be boarded up once the work reaches his frontage, and he doesn't yet know how customers will order then. Trenching in a center lane leaves that window usable. A new sidewalk poured in front of it does not, at least for a while.

Nikolas Harth co-owns Surfhouse Hotel and Coffee Coffee, both on this stretch of 101. He told The Coast News he believes the City hasn't done enough to make sure customers can reach corridor businesses safely while the work goes on. He supports the drainage upgrades and said he would like more detailed information on their long-term benefits. Nutter said the City plans more signs to direct pedestrians to designated crossings and to show drivers where U-turns are allowed.

Two Kitchens Opened Anyway

Two restaurants have committed to the corridor during all this.

Coast Thai-Way is at 698 North Coast Highway 101, on the corner of Daphne Street, a space Mozy Café once occupied. Owners Stella Bayphouthongkham and Bee Sukcharoen also run Mekong Cuisine Lao & Thai on Convoy Street. In its September 22 review, The Coast News described the Leucadia menu as built for the coast, with seafood and seasonal produce alongside Lao family recipes. Dishes named in the review include nam khao tod, a crispy coconut rice salad with cured pork sausage; sai oua, a Lao herbal sausage served with sticky rice; khao piek sen, a chicken noodle soup with hand-cut rice noodles; and an avocado green curry. The drinks list includes Lao and Thai beers, sake and natural wines. The restaurant posts hours on Instagram at @coastthaiway.

Oto Sushi, which describes itself as a family-run venture, came from Laguna Beach and took the former MRKT Space café at 782 N. Coast Highway 101 for its second location. The opening was announced for July 2026. The Leucadia location now takes reservations under that address, although no published report gives its exact opening day.

Outdoor seating can stay as well. In June, Encinitas extended its temporary outdoor dining areas in public parking spaces along Coast Highway until July 2027. That is a citywide policy, not one specific to Leucadia, but it means curbside patios won't come out just as the streetscape is finished.

Dates Between Now and the Finish

The published calendar for this fall is short.

• Every Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Leucadia Farmers Market, run by the Leucadia 101 Mainstreet Association, meets at Oak Crest Middle School, 675 Balour Drive. That is away from the construction zone, which makes it an easy weekly stop.
• Saturday, November 28, noon to 3 p.m. Shop Small Saturday 2026, a joint event of the 101 MainStreet associations, with live music, sidewalk sales, local specials and limited-edition prints. The listing doesn't name participating Leucadia merchants.
• Dates not yet announced. The City has said it will hold community meetings with Leucadia 101 Mainstreet through the end of construction. No dates or venues have been published.

The 20th annual LeucadiART Walk took place on August 30.

What the Finished Stretch Includes, and What Stays Unfunded

When Segment C is done, the City's plans call for wider sidewalks, marked bike lanes, and new roundabouts at Jupiter Street and Moorgate Road. For the whole corridor, the plan adds parking on both sides of Highway 101, plus parking-assist lanes that let delivery trucks stop without blocking traffic.

Segment C is not the whole project. Segment A2 North, from Marcheta Street to Basil Street, was finished in August 2022. Interim striping with a road diet and a bike lane went in between Basil Street and La Costa Avenue in August 2023. Two pieces are still on paper. Segment A1 South runs from A Street to Marcheta Street, and the final Segment B runs from Basil Street to Jupiter Street. Both have finished preliminary designs, but neither has construction funding.

The full streetscape was first proposed in 2008 and covers 2.5 miles. Its total cost is more than $65 million, and Segment C accounts for about $32 million of that. If the City's late Fall 2026 estimate holds, the roundabouts at Jupiter and Moorgate will be the first new feature residents can use. Until then, the U-turn for northbound drivers is still at La Costa Avenue.

If you own on or near this stretch of 101, the end of construction is a good time to think about presentation: new sidewalks, bike lanes and a reworked frontage change how a property shows. Cathleen Shera & Associates offers a complimentary home valuation and private consultation to help you plan staging and timing around the finished streetscape.