Councilmember Marco San Antonio came into the October debate over South Coast Highway 101 backing a full traffic signal at the South Cardiff State Beach driveway. Then he met with Solana Beach officials at the site. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, when he walked back to his car he crossed the highway at the unofficial Harbaugh Seaside Trail crossing, like everyone else does. "It's like the path of least resistance," he said.
On October 21, the Encinitas City Council voted to put a pedestrian signal at that crossing. The same plan removes the green bollards and curb stops that have lined the west side of the highway since 2020 and replaces them with a 14-foot multi-use path. The decision redraws Cardiff's southern stretch of the 101 around a route walkers made on their own, and the official design is catching up to it.
A Crossing That Was Never Drawn
The Harbaugh Seaside Trails sit on the lagoon side of the highway just inside Solana Beach, and the beach is on the other side. No marked crosswalk connects them. In 2025, The Coast News and the Union-Tribune both described people stepping over a rope fence at the trail edge and crossing to the beach. The nearest marked crossing is at Solana Vista Drive, about a quarter-mile south.
The volume is not small. In May 2023, the Union-Tribune reported that recent trail and bike-route improvements were bringing upwards of 200 pedestrians per weekend day to that spot. At the time, the two cities were weighing a standard signal, a HAWK beacon, and a staggered "Z" crossing that would have cut vehicle lanes.
A 2022 study summarized by The Coast News looked at bigger options too. It put rough costs at about $2.5 million for a bridge, $1.5 million for a tunnel and $500,000 for a signalized crosswalk. In the same article, then-Solana Beach Mayor Lesa Heebner said there had not been an accident at the crossing. One resident said an accident seemed inevitable with people running across a busy highway.
The grant that finally moved the project was smaller. In November 2025, Encinitas accepted a $349,920 Highway Safety Improvement Program grant for the crossing. Caltrans has to approve any change to its scope.
Where the Council Put the Signal, and Why
The October vote was about location, and the council split 3–2 on it. Deputy Mayor Jim O'Hara and Councilmembers Marco San Antonio and Joy Lyndes voted for a pedestrian push-button signal with smaller Type 1-A poles at the Harbaugh crossing. A version with a full traffic signal failed 2–3. Mayor Bruce Ehlers and Councilmember Luke Shaffer voted for that version.
According to the Union-Tribune, Ehlers and Shaffer wanted the full signal at the South Cardiff State Beach parking lot, farther north. They argued that more vehicles use that driveway than pedestrians use the trail crossing, that walkers could go north to cross there, and that vehicle traffic will only grow. The majority answered that the city can revisit the signal question later if that happens.
The majority's reasoning came back to where people already walk. "The problem is people are crossing from Harbaugh Park over the 101 and we want to make sure it's safe," O'Hara told The Coast News. Lyndes drew on her background as a landscape designer for parks and trails:
"It's absolutely the practice when you're designing, where you put people, that's where they will walk. If you put them right at that point and you show them they've got an ocean right there, they will go the shortest route."
Solana Beach City Manager Alyssa Muto told the same paper that crossings at the Harbaugh Trails "have been happening for decades." She called the selected option "a step in the right direction" that best matches what the two cities discussed the year before. The Coast News reported that public commenters at the meeting also favored keeping the crossing near the trailhead.
The Bollards Go, the Lanes Stay
The crossing is one part of a larger redesign of the street between the lagoon and the sand. The city's South Coast Highway 101 Cycle Track went in during April 2020 and runs from Chesterfield Drive to the southern city limit. It included slurry seal, new striping, asphalt wheel stops and green bollards. The Coast News put the installation cost at $954,000. The city says the changes allowed it to lower the corridor's speed limit by 5 mph in September 2020.
Staff presented three layouts. Two kept the protected cycle track. All five council members supported the third, which replaces it with a wide sidewalk-style path. The Union-Tribune described it as a promenade for slower cyclists, distance runners and pedestrians watching the sunset, with standard bike lanes at the road edge for faster riders.
| Element | 2020 Cycle Track | Option 2A, selected Oct. 21, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| West side | Protected one-way bike lane | 14-foot multi-use path |
| Separation | Green bollards and asphalt wheel stops | Painted buffers |
| Bike lanes | Behind bollards | 6 feet wide, both directions |
| Vehicle lanes | Four | Four, 10 or 10.5 feet wide |
| Harbaugh crossing | Informal, no marked crosswalk | Pedestrian-activated signal |
The bollards have divided opinion since they went in. In April 2025, The Coast News reported critics who pointed to crash reports and called the barriers a hazard. BikeWalk Encinitas and other supporters disputed how that crash data was counted and described the lanes as popular with families.
In October, Ehlers and O'Hara both supported removing the curb stops and bollards. O'Hara said removing them would give emergency vehicles more room and make it easier for drivers to pull over for them. He added that "people hate the way they look, and it takes away from one of the last really beautiful places."
What Has to Happen Before Construction
Selecting Option 2A starts the next round of approvals. It does not start construction. The city's own recap of the October 21 meeting lists the remaining steps:
- Keep coordinating with Solana Beach, since the crossing sits on the city line.
- Get Caltrans approval for the grant scope changes the new design requires.
- Refine the engineering design.
- Bring the refined design back to the City Council for approval.
The funding also limits how far the project reaches. "The fact that this is just from Los Olas to the Solana Beach crossing, that's just what these grants are funding right now, really limits our ability to look bigger and bigger picture," Lyndes said.
The Highway 101 bridge over San Elijo Lagoon, just north of the crossing, is on its own schedule. The bridge was built in 1934 and widened westward in 1953. The city lists its sufficiency rating at 60.4 out of 100, and its latest Caltrans inspection was in 2024. A citywide assessment covered by The Coast News in September rated it one of only two city bridges in poor condition.
On March 11, 2026, the council awarded a design contract to Dokken Engineering. The staff report expected about six months for the first phase and about four years for full design and permitting. City Engineer Dan Nutter said in October that, whatever the bridge needs, the city would end up with "a consistent corridor from Chesterfield to the Solana Beach border."
This Winter on the South 101
For now, the street looks the way it has since 2020. The bollards are still up, the cycle track is still in use, and the closest marked crossing near the Harbaugh Trails is still at Solana Vista Drive. California State Parks says the Cardiff State Beach lots are busy year-round.
Both ends of the crossing have events on the calendar before the end of the year:
- Saturday, Nov. 28: Cardiff 101 Main Street's Small Business Saturday. A limited-edition Cardiff poster comes with purchases, and the holiday passport promotion runs through Jan. 31, 2027.
- Saturday, Dec. 5, 10 to 11:30 a.m.: A free Nature Collective Discovery Tour on the Nature Center Loop Trail at 2710 Manchester Ave. Registration is required, the tour is for ages 9 and up, and the route is stroller- and wheelchair-accessible.
- Sunday, Dec. 6: The free Kringle Mingle on Aberdeen Drive, with holiday market booths, music, crafts and photos with Santa. Times are listed on Cardiff 101's event page.
The refined design for the stretch, built around the Harbaugh crossing walkers have used for decades, goes back to the council for approval once Caltrans and Solana Beach have weighed in.
At Luxury Coast Group Barry Estates, we follow changes like this along the 101 because they shape everyday life in Cardiff. If you would like to talk through what the corridor plans could mean for a home near the lagoon or the beach, we would welcome the conversation. Schedule a Private Consultation.
