Ask three people on North Coast Highway 101 when the Leucadia construction finally ends and you'll get three different answers. One will say this summer. One will say next year. One will laugh and say never, at this rate. All three are right, because "the streetscape project" isn't a single countdown clock. It's at least five separate projects, on five separate budgets, moving at five separate speeds, and the city has spent nearly two decades bundling them under one name that makes them sound like one thing.
That matters if you drive, walk, or bike this stretch regularly, because the piece that's closest to finished is not the piece most people are waiting on.
One Name, Five Different Finish Lines
Start with what's already done. Segment A, the stretch of Coast Highway 101 between Marcheta Street and Basil Street, wrapped in the summer of 2022. That's four years ago now, long enough that most people who drive it daily have stopped thinking of it as "under construction" at all. A separate Safety and Mobility Enhancements project, covering Basil Street to La Costa Avenue, added striping, new pedestrian crossings, and bike lanes and was finished in the fall of 2022. Two pieces, both quietly done, both easy to forget were ever part of a larger fight.
The piece everyone actually means when they complain about "the Leucadia construction" is Segment C West, running from Jupiter Street to La Costa Avenue. That work started in March 2024 and carries the project's three newest roundabouts, at Jupiter Street, Bishop's Gate Road, and Grandview Street, a lineup the city council settled on back in 2021 after weighing a cheaper option that would have skipped Grandview entirely. The city's own schedule called for this segment to wrap by the end of this summer. Anyone who has watched crews tunnel storm drain pipe under the La Costa Avenue intersection over the past two years knows that target dates on this project have moved before, so treat "done by Labor Day" as a plan, not a guarantee.
Then there are two projects most residents don't even realize are separate from the roadwork. And two more segments that haven't started at all, because nobody has found the money.
What's Actually Different If You Drive It Today
If you've been on North Coast Highway 101 near Grandview Street in the past few months, the difference is real: narrower travel lanes, a roundabout where a signal used to sit, and a storm drain system finally capable of handling more than a light rain. The drainage piece is the part that rarely gets discussed but explains why this project ballooned in scope. Mayor Tony Kranz put it plainly when describing the years of flooding that pushed the city to act.
"There's been historic flooding in Leucadia that has been exacerbated by growth. Where there once were more permeable surfaces, as you know, homes get added, there is more impervious surface, and that means the fact that there was an inadequate stormwater system was highlighted."
That's why Segment C West isn't just about slowing traffic. It includes a new 60-inch storm drain pipe running from Jupiter Street north toward Moorgate Road, with a second 60-inch pipe planned at the Grandview Street intersection. The construction contract for this segment alone, awarded to Blue Pacific Engineering and Construction, runs $20.25 million. That's the number attached to the part of the project that's actually finishing this year.
The Roundabout Everyone Actually Wanted
Of the three new roundabouts in this segment, Grandview drew the most support, and for a specific reason: it sits at one of Leucadia's most-used beach access points. When the council debated a cheaper version of the project that would have cut it, Councilwoman Kellie Shay Hinze pushed back directly, calling the Grandview roundabout critical because of how many people use that intersection to reach the sand. Kranz agreed, telling colleagues that a version of Streetscape without it "isn't very attractive." The full three-roundabout option cost more and covered less ground overall, ending the improved roadway at Jupiter Street instead of continuing two more blocks to Phoebe Street, but the council chose it anyway.
If you're timing a walk to Grandview Beach this fall, that trade-off is worth knowing: the roundabout exists because residents specifically fought for beach access over sheer distance covered.
The Crossing That Isn't What It Sounds Like
Here's where the "one project" framing really breaks down. Separate from the roadwork entirely, the city has been pursuing new pedestrian crossings over the train tracks at Grandview Street and Phoebe Street, intended to cut the 1.3-mile gap between Leucadia Boulevard and La Costa Avenue into thirds. On February 5, 2026, the California Public Utilities Commission signed off on the applications for both locations, a genuine milestone after years of process. But approval to build isn't the same as being built. That vote only sent the project into a more detailed design phase, one the city expected to finish sometime this summer. Council was scheduled to weigh in on funding that next design step back in June. Money for the physical construction of the crossings themselves still has not been secured.
In practical terms: if you've been picturing a new shortcut over the tracks to the beach appearing this year, that's not the timeline. What happened in February was a green light for engineers to keep drawing, not a groundbreaking.
The Gap Nobody's Funding Yet
South of Segment C West, two more pieces of the original 2008 vision remain stuck in the design folder. Segment A1, covering A Street to Marcheta Street, and Segment B, described in city documents as "Ultimate Improvements" between Basil Street and Jupiter Street, are both still awaiting money. Add in the unfunded portion of the North Coast Highway 101 Drainage Improvement project and the gap comes to roughly $53 million: $10 million for Segment A1, $25 million for Segment B, and $18 million of drainage work that a $4 million federal grant didn't cover. Kranz has put the number needed to finish the job at around $50 million, a figure that lines up with the math.
So the segment inching toward completion this summer cost about $20 million to build. The segments still sitting on paper need more than double that, with no funding source identified. That's the honest shape of "the Leucadia project" as of this year: one piece nearly finished, one piece approved but unbuilt, and two pieces that exist only as renderings.
Beach Notes While You Wait
A few smaller changes have already landed and are easy to miss if you're focused on the roadwork. The staircase at Grandview Beach, closed for repairs starting February 3, reopened around Memorial Day after roughly four months of work. And between mid-February and mid-March, the city delivered about 9,400 cubic yards of sand to Leucadia State Beach as part of a replenishment effort, the kind of maintenance that happens quietly but shapes how wide the beach feels on any given weekend.
None of that is part of Streetscape. It's just what else was happening on the same three blocks while the bigger project moved at its own pace, a reminder that Leucadia's coastline gets worked on in pieces too.
Why the Confusion Persists
Some of this friction is by design. The project has been contested since its earliest coastal commission hearings, with critics warning that fewer travel lanes and more roundabouts would slow emergency vehicles, and supporters countering that the old four-lane layout was never built for the number of cyclists and pedestrians using it now. That fight isn't resolved, and it doesn't need to be for the practical point here to hold: what's changing on your street this year is narrower than what's changing on paper. One segment is close. One approval just happened. Two segments are still just an idea with a price tag attached.
If you've been waiting for a single "grand opening" moment for the whole corridor, you'll wait longer than the parts you actually use every day deserve. Watch Segment C West and the Grandview roundabout for the near-term change. Watch the city's funding decisions, not the CPUC approval, for when the rail crossings actually get built.
We've watched this stretch of coastline change plenty of times over the years, from beach access to bridge repairs to the roads that get you there. If you're weighing what a home near this corridor is really worth once the dust settles, or just want a straight answer from people who track these projects the way we track listings, Appleby Family Group is always glad to talk it through. Request a Private Consultation whenever you're ready.
