On North Coast Highway 101 between The Leucadian Bar and Avocado Street, a stretch with no streetlights, Leucadia Cyclery has strung LED lights along the eaves of its storefront. Owner Jeff Schade told The Coast News that he put them up because that block goes "pitch black" at night. He also mounted flashing red bike lights to warn southbound drivers that the lane narrows.
Those lights went up for safety during the Leucadia Streetscape work, which is still running between Jupiter Street and La Costa Avenue. This season they also mark something about the Encinitas holiday calendar. Every major December event is clustered near Moonlight Beach on the first weekend of the month. The one citywide date that sends shoppers to the north end of the 101 comes six days earlier.
Dec. 4 and 5 belong to Moonlight Beach and South 101
The city's holiday centerpiece is a two-day run that starts Friday, Dec. 4.
That evening the Encinitas Historical Society holds its Heritage Tree Lighting near Moonlight Beach from 4 to 7 p.m. The tree is set to light at 6 p.m. as the ceremony closes. New this year, the Encinitas Chamber of Commerce is adding a Holiday Village & Market the same day at the west end of the Moonlight State Beach parking lot. About 20 local vendors will sell food, flowers and other goods to the tree-lighting crowd. Chamber chief executive Carol Knight told The Coast News where the idea came from: "It occurred to me there's not really a holiday market here in Encinitas." The City Council unanimously approved an agreement with the Chamber on Sept. 9 covering about $1,600 in event costs, mostly permits and oversight, and the city will help promote the market with banners, fliers and online outreach.
On Saturday, Dec. 5, the City of Encinitas Holiday Parade steps off at 5:30 p.m. on South Coast Highway 101 between D Street and J Street. This year's theme is "40 and Still Fabulous." Entry applications close Nov. 13. Fees are $75 for nonprofit groups, $150 for private groups and $200 for commercial businesses, and the city will still take later applications if space allows, with a $25 late fee.
Knight called the market, tree lighting and parade "a great marriage" of events that support each other. All three are within reach of Moonlight Beach and downtown. None of them reaches the Leucadia blocks north of Jupiter Street.
North of Jupiter, the corridor is still a work zone
Segment C of the Leucadia Streetscape covers North Coast Highway 101 from Jupiter Street to La Costa Avenue. It started construction in March 2024. In its Sept. 17 update, the City of Encinitas project page gives anticipated completion as "late Fall 2026." The original target was summer 2025. Director of Engineering Dan Nutter told The Coast News the timeline grew by about a year and a half after the City Council approved more drainage work, including a new storm drain system meant to reduce flooding along the corridor.
As of that September update, all of the large 60-inch, 66-inch and 36-inch storm drain pipe was in the ground. Crews were still on cleanout boxes, storm drain laterals, inlets, water service laterals and water main between Jupiter and La Costa. On the west side of the highway south of La Costa Avenue, they were building new curb, gutter, sidewalk, a bus pad and driveways. The city says to expect lane shifts, noise, dust, lighting and large construction vehicles, and that access to driveways and businesses will be maintained.
The businesses along that stretch have had a hard year. Stacy Reddell, executive director of the Leucadia 101 MainStreet Association, surveyed 20 corridor businesses and told The Coast News their sales had fallen an average of 25% to 40% over the previous year. In August, Schade told NBC 7 San Diego that customers had told him, "I can't make it to your shop today." The Leucadian Bar's co-owner told The Coast News that the loss of street parking had cut into event bookings.
Nutter told The Coast News the project was only about a month behind schedule, which he called "pretty darn good" for construction of this size. A large drainage and streetscape job can be close to schedule, and the shops next to it can still spend the holiday season inside a work zone.
How to get in and out with the cones still up
Some practical details from the business owners' accounts in The Coast News help with planning a trip.
- Northbound U-turns. Leucadia Donut Shoppe owner Tom Chu said northbound customers have often had to drive up to La Costa Avenue to turn around. Nutter said the city planned more signs to show pedestrians the designated crossings and show drivers where U-turns are allowed.
- Walk-up windows. Sip-N-Sea serves from a walk-up window on the corridor. After its owner saw a customer and the customer's dog nearly hit by a car, the city put temporary orange barricades in front of the shop.
- After dark. In the darker block near Avocado Street, the lit-up eaves at Leucadia Cyclery, 1560 N. Coast Highway 101, are easy to spot from the road.
- Coffee and a room. Nikolas Harth co-owns Surfhouse Hotel and Coffee Coffee, both on North Coast Highway 101 in Leucadia. He told The Coast News that the city should do more to make sure customers can reach businesses safely while construction continues.
The dates on the calendar that point north
In order, these are the dates that bring people to the north end of town between this post and the parade:
- Sundays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Leucadia Farmers Market, run with the Leucadia 101 MainStreet Association, meets weekly at Oak Crest Middle School, 675 Balour Drive. That is a short drive inland from the 101. Market Sundays between now and the parade are Nov. 15, Nov. 22 and Nov. 29.
- Saturday, Nov. 28, noon to 3 p.m. Shop Small Saturday. Encinitas 101 lists the event with "the 101 MainStreet Associations" and local businesses, with live music, sidewalk sales and local specials. Each community is giving away limited-edition prints at its participating businesses that day.
- Friday, Dec. 4. Holiday Village & Market and the Heritage Tree Lighting near Moonlight Beach.
- Saturday, Dec. 5, 5:30 p.m. The Holiday Parade on South Coast Highway 101.
Shop Small Saturday is the only date on the list that spreads across the 101's business districts. Because each community gives out its own print, someone collecting them has a reason to stop in Leucadia as well as downtown. It is also the last weekend before the Moonlight Beach events take over the calendar.
What the finished stretch is set to add
The city's Segment C plan explains what the work is for. The finished corridor from Jupiter Street to La Costa Avenue is set to get wider sidewalks, designated bike lanes, new pavement, roundabouts at Jupiter Street and Moorgate Road, crosswalks and a pedestrian signal at Avocado Street, benches, bike racks, hundreds of new trees and new streetlights. The streetlights and the Avocado Street signal are aimed at the block where Leucadia Cyclery put up its own lights.
Segment C is one part of a larger plan. The full Leucadia Streetscape runs about 2.5 miles, broke ground in January 2021, and is projected to cost more than $65 million in total. Segment C accounts for about $32 million of that. Restaurants are already planning around the finished corridor. San Diego Magazine reports that Shoots plans a third seafood restaurant at 914 N. Coast Highway 101 in Leucadia. The founders call their late-2027 target preliminary, with construction and permitting still ahead.
Until the cones come down, the city's own project page asks people to support local Leucadia businesses during construction. Nov. 28 is the clearest date on the calendar to do that.
At Renovation Realty, our own crews work next to people's homes and businesses every day, so we know how much a long project depends on access and clear communication. If you own a home near the Leucadia corridor and want to know which updates make sense before you sell, Book a Free Home Evaluation and we will walk the property with you.
