SOLANA BEACH — The city of Solana Beach is moving forward with proposed designs for the Coastal Rail Trail extension that would involve reducing the northbound Coast Highway 101 lanes within the city’s boundaries.
The Coastal Rail Trail in Solana Beach is a multi-use path for pedestrians and cyclists along the east side of Highway 101. It currently runs from the city’s southern boundary at Via de la Valle until Ocean Street, where it stops just short of the northern boundary with Encinitas.
Solana Beach leaders have long been planning a $1 million project to complete the last stretch of the city’s trail and received the final portion of the needed funding earlier this year. The city had to bring its designs back to square one after plans for a pedestrian crossing project within Encinitas, which was supposed to connect to the trail, hit a roadblock.
Back in 2023, Solana Beach and Encinitas jointly developed plans for a crossing at Harbaugh with a pedestrian refuge island halfway across the 101, which would reduce the number of vehicle lanes. Last year, however, the Encinitas City Council said it was not in favor of lane reductions — also known as road diets — and expressed interest in moving the crossing farther north into the city.
Solana Beach City Manager Alyssa Muto said she is optimistic that Solana Beach can reach an agreement with Encinitas regarding the crossing, but in the meantime, the city is focused on completing the rail trail within its own boundaries.
“I want to emphasize that the work that the team is doing is to allow us to continue to move forward with our project, irrespective of what happens to the north,” Muto said. “There’s some clear design constraints with the right-of-way … that we have to design around.”
A proposed design shared with the City Council on June 24 shows the final portion of the Coastal Rail Trail extending west into the current Highway 101 right-of-way to avoid a conservation easement that runs along Harbaugh Seaside Trails. 
To accommodate the trail, the two northbound lanes along Highway 101 would narrow to one lane just north of Solana Vista Drive. The single lane and the rail trail extension would continue north to the end of the Solana Beach city boundary, just past Circle Drive.
At that point, pedestrians and cyclists can divert onto the Harbaugh trail system.
“The concept tonight shows the most feasible approach identified to date, while remaining within the existing roadway limits of Highway 101,” said Solana Beach City Engineer Austin Frisby.
It would be up to the city of Encinitas to decide how to continue the Coastal Rail Trail from its end at the Solana Beach boundary.
Mayor Lesa Heebner noted that if the trail is to continue north, it must partially cross Highway 101 to avoid sensitive environmental areas along Harbaugh Trails. That portion of the 101 right-of-way is already narrow to begin with.
“We don’t have a choice,” Heebner said.
The existing crescent-shaped platform at the north end of the trail will also be replaced with vegetation. Further south at Solana Vista Drive, the city would also add a pedestrian push-button-activated system to the existing crossing.
The new rail trail segment will be consistent with the design of the existing trail, with plant landscaping and bollard lighting.
Heebner said she would also like the city to maintain two historic beaches located at the current end of the Coastal Rail Trail.
Muto said the project could go out to bid within the next six months or so.
Ross Duenas of the consulting firm Chen Ryan and Associates said the high number of lanes on Highway 101 along the San Elijo Lagoon, along with the lack of surrounding urban development, has created an environment where speeding is common.
He said traffic-calming measures, such as lane reductions or adding medians, can all help slow traffic.
“Our findings from there were that the four-lane corridor is excessive and allows for almost a free-flow condition, which is why we believe we’re seeing those high prevailing speeds,” Duenas said.
An updated traffic study will need to be completed to calculate the prevailing speed, and the merge taper for the lane reduction can then be designed. Past studies have found the prevailing speed in the area to be around 40-45 miles per hour.
“The goal here is to create a safe, continuous and comfortable facility that allows multimodal transportation through the use of vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians while minimizing impacts to environmental resources,” said Frisby.
To prevent unsafe crossings at Highway 101, council members also said it’s important to direct pedestrians to the existing crossing at Solana Vista Drive for coastal access, at least until a new crossing is established to the north.
Councilmember Dave Zito noted that most people ignore the existing signage at Harbaugh Trails that directs pedestrians to walk a quarter-mile south to Solana Vista to cross the 101.
“If we can catch them going northbound before they get that far, back at Solana Vista, I suppose that could help, but I also think not many people look at the signs unless they’re really big,” said Zito.
