ENCINITAS — In a split vote, the Encinitas City Council recommended a design for the stretch of South Coast Highway 101 near the Solana Beach border that includes a signal for pedestrians crossing between the lagoon and the beach.
The design includes a 14-foot-wide multiuse pathway on the west side of the road, 6-foot-wide bike lanes on each side with painted buffers instead of physical barriers, and four vehicle lanes measuring either 10 or 10.5 feet wide.
A version of the plan with a full traffic signal failed 2-3 at the Oct. 21 meeting, with Councilmember Luke Shaffer and Mayor Bruce Ehlers voting in favor. The design with smaller Type 1-A signal poles passed 3-2, with Deputy Mayor Jim O’Hara and Councilmembers Marco San Antonio and Joy Lyndes voting in favor.
In November 2025, the city accepted nearly $350,000 in state grant funding for the project. Caltrans oversees scope change requests for the final design.
“The fact that this is just from Los Olas to the Salana Beach crossing – that’s just what these grants are funding right now – really limits our ability to look bigger and bigger picture,” Lyndes said. “So I’m not in favor of making big moves at this time.”
City staff presented other roadway options, including designs with protected bike lanes.
Solana Beach City Manager Alyssa Muto told The Coast News that the option selected by the Encinitas City Council was “a step in the right direction” and best aligns with the plans the cities discussed last year.
“We are making progress, but there is still more to do to refine the engineering design to meet the priorities of both cities,” Muto said.
Despite disagreement over the best type of signal for the crossing, discussion of its location quickly centered on placing it as close as possible to where the Harbaugh Seaside Trail meets South Coast Highway 101.
“Crossings of Highway 101 at Harbough Trails have been happening for decades, and we know exactly why – folks will always naturally navigate toward the coast along the most direct path,” Muto said.
“[With] my decades of experience as a landscape designer for parks and trails, it’s absolutely the practice when you’re designing, where you put people, that’s where they will walk,” Lyndes said. “If you put them right at that point and you show them they’ve got an ocean right there, they will go the shortest route.”
“The problem is people are crossing from Harbaugh Park over the 101 and we want to make sure it’s safe,” O’Hara said.
Community members who spoke during public comment echoed that view, expressing a desire to keep the crossing near the trailhead. Some wanted consistent streetscape designs between the cities, while others questioned how the project would align with broader corridor construction plans.
Plans are also in development to rehabilitate the Highway 101 bridge over San Elijo Lagoon, the city’s vehicle bridge with the lowest safety rating.
City Engineer Dan Nutter said his team could ensure design consistency regardless of which option the council recommended.
“Whatever the bridge rehabilitation needs would be, we would ensure at the end of the day that we have a consistent corridor from Chesterfield to the Solana Beach border,” Nutter said.
Ehlers and O’Hara welcomed the removal of curb stops and bollards as a safety measure. O’Hara added that their removal would make it easier for emergency vehicles to navigate the road and for drivers to pull over to let them pass.
“It actually makes the road much safer,” O’Hara said. “I really think we transform this into less of an eyesore. I gotta admit, those bollards and curb stops, as much as they are dangerous, people hate the way they look, and it takes away from one of the last really beautiful places.
