Lomas Santa Fe Drive Starts a Year of Cones East of I-5

Construction on Lomas Santa Fe Drive between Santa Helena Drive and Highland Drive starts Tuesday, Oct. 13. Over the coming weeks, the city says crews may put up cones and signs, mark the ground, and dig small test holes to find water, gas and electrical lines before the larger work starts. The city expects to finish in fall 2027.

This is the eastern half of a corridor plan the city started studying in 2017. The study covers the whole road from Sierra Avenue, west of Highway 101, out to Highland Drive. The east end goes first because it has the funding. The stretch most people drive toward Cedros and the beach does not have its construction money yet. That gap explains how this road will look and feel for the next year and after.

The Half That Got Funded First

The city split the corridor into two pieces because it could not pay for the whole thing at once. Its fiscal 2025/26 work plan puts the full corridor at about $15 million. The eastern piece, Santa Helena to Highland, was estimated at $7 million, and that money came through Congressman Mike Levin's office. The council also moved $1 million in surplus Measure S funds to cover cost increases since the original design. Measure S funds and transportation impact fees make up the rest.

On May 27, 2026, the council voted 5-0 to award the contract to Tri-Group Construction and Development, Inc. The winning bid was $6,740,708, with a $675,000 contingency on top. The same staff report puts the total project cost at $8,578,944 once design and construction management are counted. That is why news coverage cites different totals depending on what it includes. Kleinfelder is the city's engineering and construction management firm, and it will keep a construction manager on site full time.

The design took this long partly because the city went back and changed it. The city held its first community workshop on May 15, 2017. The city presented alternative concepts at a May 2018 community workshop. In September 2018 the council directed that all roundabouts be removed from the project. In February 2019, The Coast News reported that the council approved Phase III design work, paid for with a $616,050 SANDAG grant and a $68,450 city match. The plan starting Tuesday keeps the existing traffic signals and updates them.

A Weekday Schedule With Breaks

Since the money only covers one segment, the city has set rules to keep that segment open for traffic. According to the city's project page, the schedule works like this:

Weekend trips on Lomas Santa Fe should be outside the work window. The 8 a.m. start comes after much of the early commute toward I-5, but the 5:30 p.m. finish overlaps the evening drive home. The breaks around Thanksgiving and Christmas mean the first stretch of work will be a few weeks long and then stop for the holidays.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported the project team's promise that at least one travel lane in each direction will stay open the whole time. Greg Gomez, Kleinfelder's project manager, told the paper, "We're not closing any roads, we'll always have a lane open in each direction at all times." The city's own FAQ is more careful. It says to expect temporary lane closures, traffic control and delays, and that access to homes and businesses will be kept open "whenever possible."

The Work Moves West, and the Trail Comes Last

City Engineer Austin Frisby described a three-part sequence to the Union-Tribune, with work moving from east to west:

1. New raised medians with native, drought-tolerant plants.
2. A new sidewalk on the south side of Lomas Santa Fe.
3. Roadway work on the north side, including 0.93 miles of multi-use trail that the paper described as similar to the Coastal Rail Trail.

Because the work starts at the east end, the Highland Drive side of the zone gets crews first. The project then works back toward Santa Helena, where a new decorative retaining wall is planned near Las Banderas. The trail, which is the most visible public feature, is in the final phase. Anyone waiting to walk or ride it should plan on the later part of the schedule. The council report targeted late summer 2027 with an estimated 220 working days. The city's current page says fall 2027.

Two parts of the sequence affect specific people. During two short work phases, residents of the Via Mil Cumbres community will be sent to one of two available exits. Public comments to the council also raised concerns about long delays and drivers cutting through parallel neighborhood streets such as Sun Valley Road. The city has not published dates for each phase, a detour map or a daily closure calendar. It says traffic impacts will be posted on the project page as they are scheduled.

Where the Daily Stops Sit

Most regular stops on this part of Lomas Santa Fe sit right on the work zone or just next to it. Here is where they are relative to Santa Helena and Highland:

The Country Club is in the middle of the work. The Executive Golf Course is reached by Sun Valley Road, the same street the public comments raised as a possible cut-through. Lomas Santa Fe Plaza is the shopping center its owners describe as having more than 50 shops, restaurants and services. Its anchors include Vons, HomeGoods, 24Hour Fitness, We-R-Fabrics, Big 5 Sporting Goods and Pizza Nova. It was built in 1969, with more buildings added in 1979. Many trips from the Rancho Santa Fe side to that grocery run go through the zone.

The lagoon access is on Nature Collective's list of San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve trailheads as the Santa Helena Trail. It uses street parking rather than a dedicated lot. The nearest transit stop is listed at Lomas Santa Fe and Solana Hills Drive. The city says pedestrian and bicycle detours in active work areas will be signed as construction moves along.

West of I-5, New Paint Instead of a Rebuild

Lomas Santa Fe west of the freeway is a different story, and this is where the funding split shows most. The city's work plan puts the west side, from I-5 to Cedros Avenue, at about $8 million. As of that plan, the city had received about $850,000, which can only be used for final design and construction drawings. Staff had applied for construction grants through SANDAG and Congressman Levin's office.

In the meantime, the city added the west side to its annual road repair program. That means a new overlay and restriping, with the two travel lanes in each direction narrowed but kept, and painted bike lanes with buffers. The city's most recent west-side update, posted Aug. 19, 2026, covered new signal technology at five intersections west of I-5. It did not announce a construction start for the larger rebuild.

When the east work finishes, one city street will have two levels of improvement. East of the freeway, the city's plan includes raised landscaped medians, Class II bike lanes, a south-side sidewalk and a north-side multi-use path. West of the freeway, toward Cedros, it will have repaving and paint until more grant money arrives. City Manager Alyssa Muto described what the east side should look like, as the Union-Tribune reported:

"On the other side (of the construction) 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."

Douglas Alden, chair of BikeWalkSolana, has been involved since 2017. He told the paper, "It's going to be a little bit of pain but a lot to gain." For live updates, the city runs a project helpline at (858) 723-8511 and an email address, [email protected], and offers email sign-ups on the project page.

If you own a home along Lomas Santa Fe or on the streets off it, Chris Martin can walk you through how this construction year and the finished trail fit into your property's position. Get a free home valuation, and we'll keep an eye on the corridor's progress for you.