Lomas Santa Fe Drive's Construction Keeps Office Hours

The City of Solana Beach started rebuilding Lomas Santa Fe Drive between Santa Helena Drive and Highland Drive on Tuesday, Oct. 13. The project will run in three phases and is expected to finish in Fall 2027. That's a long time to share a major interior thoroughfare with cones. The construction will be easier to live with than that sounds, though, because it runs on a set schedule. Crews work set hours, move in a set direction and take set breaks. Once you know those three things, you can plan around the work.

For now, most of what drivers see is setup. The city's project page says crews are putting out cones and signs. They're also surveying, marking the pavement and digging small test holes, called potholing, to find underground water, gas and electrical lines before the heavy work starts.

The Clock Crews Work On

The work hours are 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except city holidays. The city also builds in longer breaks. It won't do construction during the Del Mar Fair or around Thanksgiving and Christmas, and any work outside those hours needs city approval.

That leaves a lot of the week alone. A 7:30 a.m. drive west toward I-5 starts before crews arrive, and a Saturday trip to the plaza misses them completely. The trips that run into the work are the midday ones: a lunch run, a mid-morning appointment, a 3 p.m. pickup on the east end.

The Work Moves East to West, and the Path Comes Last

City Engineer Austin Frisby laid out the order of work for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Crews will move from the Highland Drive end toward Santa Helena in this sequence:

1. Medians. New raised medians planted with native, drought-tolerant landscaping.
2. South-side sidewalk. A new sidewalk along the south edge of Lomas Santa Fe.
3. North-side roadway. The last phase adds a 0.93-mile multi-use trail, which the Union-Tribune report compared to the Coastal Rail Trail.

This order shapes how the year will feel on the road. The first visible change is the median work down the center of the street, starting at the east end and moving west. The north-side path, which will change daily walking and biking the most, comes in the final phase. Neither the city's documents nor the news coverage give exact street limits for each phase or a block-by-block closure schedule, so for this week's specifics the project page is the place to check.

Where the Pressure Could Land

The project team has said the road will stay open. Greg Gomez, project manager at Kleinfelder, the city's engineering and construction management firm, told the San Diego Union-Tribune:

"We're not closing any roads, we'll always have a lane open in each direction at all times."

Temporary lane closures are still part of the plan, according to the city's FAQ. In the same Union-Tribune report, public commenters told the City Council they were worried about long delays and about drivers cutting through parallel neighborhood streets such as Sun Valley Road. Residents of the Via Mil Cumbres community face a more specific change: during two short work phases, they'll be detoured to one of two available exit routes.

People on bikes have their own question. When the council awarded the contract on May 27, Councilmember Dave Zito asked for clear bike routing during construction, The Coast News reported. The city's FAQ says pedestrian and bike detours may be set up in active work areas and will be signed and announced as the work moves. It also says crews will keep access to homes and businesses open whenever possible, with advance notice when they can't.

The Errands at Each End of the Work Zone

Construction on this stretch affects more than commuters, because a lot of everyday errands are on it. Lomas Santa Fe Plaza, at 905–993 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, sits just west of the project's Santa Helena/Las Banderas end, near I-5. The center lists more than 50 shops, restaurants and services, with Vons, HomeGoods, 24 Hour Fitness, We-R-Fabrics, Big 5 Sporting Goods and Pizza Nova among its anchors. North Coast Repertory Theatre and Our Green Affair Cafe are in the plaza directory too. Farther east on the same road, Lomas Santa Fe Country Club lists its address as 1505 Lomas Santa Fe Drive.

Here the schedule works in residents' favor. An evening curtain at North Coast Rep, a weekend grocery run at Vons or a Saturday tee time on the east end all happen outside crew hours. The midday weekday trips are the ones to rethink, especially if they cross the work zone from east to west.

What the Street Looks Like When It's Done

Once construction wraps up, Lomas Santa Fe keeps two vehicle lanes in each direction. It adds Class II bike lanes both ways, the north-side multi-use path, a south-side sidewalk and raised landscaped medians. The full list also includes ADA-compliant curb ramps, storm drain and water-quality upgrades, traffic signal changes, new trash and recycling bins, and decorative walls with seating areas. One of the decorative retaining walls will go near Santa Helena and Las Banderas.

"On the other side ... will be a wonderful roadway with two lanes in each direction, some beautiful medians, some bike lanes and a lovely multi-use path with vegetation," City Manager Alyssa Muto told the San Diego Union-Tribune. Douglas Alden, chair of BikeWalkSolana, who has worked on the project since 2017, said in the same article, "It's going to be a little bit of pain but a lot to gain."

The council approved Tri-Group Construction and Development's bid of $6,740,708 at its May 27, 2026 meeting, along with a $675,000 construction contingency. The staff report estimates the total project cost at $8,578,944 once construction management and design support are included. Most of the funding is a $7 million Community Project Funding grant obtained through Congressman Mike Levin, with Measure S and Transportation Impact Fee money covering the rest. The city's FAQ also calls this project the first phase of a larger Lomas Santa Fe Corridor plan. As for timing, the Union-Tribune report described work lasting through summer 2027. The city's current FAQ says Fall 2027, and that's the date to plan on.

December Happens on Sundays

The holiday break and Solana Beach's December calendar fall together. The days around Thanksgiving and Christmas are already set aside as no-work periods, and the city's two tree lightings land on Sundays, outside crew hours.

• Fletcher Cove Holiday Tree Lighting, Sunday, Dec. 6. Starts at 4:30 p.m., and Santa is expected around 5:20 p.m. with a fire-truck escort.
• La Colonia Holiday Tree Lighting, Sunday, Dec. 13. At 715 Valley Avenue from 5 to 7 p.m., with Santa scheduled for 5:20 p.m.

The city posts traffic changes on its Lomas Santa Fe Corridor – East project page, which also has a sign-up for email updates. The project helpline is (858) 723-8511, and the project email is [email protected].

At Moore Realty Group, we follow projects like the Lomas Santa Fe rebuild because they change how a neighborhood works day to day long before they show up in a listing. If you're wondering what the new corridor could mean for your home, request your free home valuation, and we'll walk you through it with local numbers.