Solana Beach is scheduled to begin work Oct. 5 on the first phase of improvements to Lomas Santa Fe Drive, the city's main east-west corridor. The roughly 11-month project will add bike lanes, landscaped medians and a multi-use path between Santa Helena and Highland Drive, with completion expected by summer 2027. The city plans to keep one lane open in each direction during construction.
The project carries an estimated $6.7 million construction cost, plus a 10 percent contingency, according to The Coast News Group. Tri-Group beat out five other bidders for the job, per the same outlet. City Manager Alyssa Muto, who previously led San Diego's Sustainability & Mobility Department before her March 2024 appointment as reported by Hoodline, said that community information and minimizing travel disruptions will be key to the project's success, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
What The New Corridor Will Look Like
The completed roadway is planned to retain two travel lanes in each direction, with raised medians planted with native, drought-tolerant landscaping. Class II bike lanes will run in both directions, while a new vegetated multi-use path on the north side will add 0.93 miles of trail. The project also includes a decorative retaining wall near Santa Helena and Las Banderas and upgrades at several signalized intersections.
Construction will move from east to west in stages, beginning with median work, followed by new sidewalk construction on the south side of Lomas Santa Fe. North-side roadway improvements are planned for the final stage. Work hours are scheduled for 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and the city says one lane in each direction will remain open throughout the project.
Why Drainage And Location Matter
The stormwater work has significance beyond the project limits. County of San Diego environmental-review records describe a broader watershed connection in which runoff from portions of the area can flow to Escondido Creek, through San Elijo Lagoon and ultimately to the Pacific Ocean. The records say Escondido Creek and San Elijo Lagoon are impaired for multiple pollutants associated with human activity in the watershed, providing regional context for the planned drainage and biofiltration improvements, according to County of San Diego environmental-review records. Caltrans planning documents also identify Lomas Santa Fe Drive as a gateway interchange to Solana Beach, while noting that improvements at the interchange were permitted separately from the broader North Coast Corridor program, according to Caltrans.
Underground Upgrades And A Decade Of Debate
Beneath the roadway, the project includes drainage improvements, replacement of aging corrugated-metal storm-drain pipes and biofiltration basins for water-quality treatment, according to the City of Solana Beach. The current design followed years of public debate. In 2018, 97 percent of 300 surveyed local residents rejected an earlier proposal for four roundabouts, after which the city pursued a design centered on multi-use paths and buffered bike lanes, as detailed by The Daniels Group. Residents had raised concerns that roundabouts could increase travel times and divert vehicles into nearby neighborhoods.
How the plan changed and what the corridor connects
The shift away from roundabouts means the project entering construction is materially different from the earlier concepts debated by the city. Caltrans planning documents identify Lomas Santa Fe Drive as a gateway to Solana Beach, while noting that improvements at the interchange were permitted separately from the broader North Coast Corridor program, according to Caltrans.
For transportation context, the city's Comprehensive Active Transportation Strategy describes Solana Beach's public transit network as including Coaster and Amtrak rail service along with Breeze bus routes, according to the City of Solana Beach strategy. The corridor's construction plans therefore affect a route documented in city planning as part of a broader multimodal network, alongside the neighborhood access concerns described elsewhere in the project updates.
Traffic effects remain a concern in public comments before construction, including the possibility that drivers could divert onto parallel neighborhood streets such as Sun Valley Road, according to the Union-Tribune. During two brief work phases, Via Mil Cumbres residents will be directed to one of two available exit routes. Douglas Alden, a resident and BikeWalkSolana chair who has participated in the project process since 2017, said the work would be difficult but ultimately beneficial, the paper reported.
Paying For The Project And Keeping Residents Informed
Published estimates put the project's overall cost at roughly $7.4 million to $7.5 million: the construction estimate is $6.7 million before a 10 percent contingency, while the Union-Tribune reports a $7.5 million total. Funding comes from a grant secured by Congressman Mike Levin, city transportation impact-fee funds and Measure S dollars. Levin's office has said the federal grant was delivered through the House Appropriations Committee's Community Project Funding process in FY2023 legislation, a mechanism that lets members of Congress direct federal dollars to local municipal projects. Measure S is a 1-cent local sales tax Solana Beach voters approved in November 2022 that provides approximately $3 million annually for general city services, according to Ballotpedia.
To manage the work, Kleinfelder has been selected as the city's engineering and construction firm and will provide a full-time construction manager focused on community safety and communication, the Union-Tribune reports. The city council approved a separate $979,000, two-year contract with Kleinfelder in May 2026 covering on-site oversight and community outreach throughout construction, per The Coast News Group. Solana Beach has already sent an initial project informational mailer to all city residents and plans to offer construction notices, digital signage, a project website, and a helpline for ongoing outreach. Project details are posted at cityofsolanabeach.ca.gov/en/lsfe.
Part Of A Bigger Plan For The Corridor
This construction covers only Phase 1 of a larger corridor overhaul. Design for Phase 2, covering Lomas Santa Fe West from Interstate 5 to Highway 101, is targeted for completion in 2027, with regional planning agency SANDAG having awarded $3.5 million toward that western phase earlier in 2026, per The Coast News Group's later reporting. Lomas Santa Fe Drive is a key east-west arterial in Solana Beach, according to the Office of U.S. Rep. Mike Levin.
Levin's office also secured $500,000 in February 2026 for the connected Glencrest Safe Routes to School Project, which will add sidewalks and curbs along Glencrest Drive linking directly to Lomas Santa Fe Drive, a route the office notes serves as a primary walking path for students headed to local schools. Between the drainage upgrades, the new trail segment, and the feeder-street sidewalk work, city officials are framing next month's groundbreaking as the first visible step in a corridor transformation that residents have been shaping since 2017.
