Leucadia's Drainage Issues Span Decades, And There's Still A Long Way To Go

By Tigist Layne, the Voice of San Diego

February 20, 2024

Twelve years ago, a San Diego County grand jury urged the city of Encinitas to find a long-term solution to improve the existing stormwater infrastructure in Leucadia Roadside Park, a neighborhood in Encinitas.

Last month, historic flooding across San Diego County damaged the homes and businesses of more than 1,000 residents – Leucadia Roadside Park was one of the communities hit hard.

The area’s inadequate stormwater infrastructure was a major reason why.

“At least 10 businesses in the area were impacted,” said Stacy Reddell, executive director of the Leucadia 101 Mainstreet Association.

Five of those businesses had substantial damage, four are still closed for repairs, she said, and one of those businesses may not be able to reopen. Repairs are costing some business owners tens of thousands of dollars.

Several homes were also damaged by the flooding, according to a report by the Coast News.

At a City Council meeting on Jan. 24, after the storm, dozens of Encinitas residents pleaded with the city to finally address the drainage issues that have troubled the area for decades.

Last week, Encinitas city officials presented their plan to fix those issues permanently, and though the first stages are already underway, it’s going to take more time and millions of additional dollars to complete.

The city’s drainage issues date back almost 40 years, when Encinitas was founded and inherited the county’s original infrastructure. Leucadia Roadside Park is especially prone to flooding, sitting at one of the lowest points in Encinitas and creating a perfect scenario for water to accumulate.

Over the past couple of decades, the city has made modifications and tweaks to the area’s drainage system, but they haven’t been enough to keep up with yearly rainstorms. One of those modifications was the installation of a primary drain pipe 24 inches in diameter in 2003 that experts said should have been much larger.

That’s the main pipe still today and, sure enough, it’s not large enough to mitigate flooding.

But city officials say they’re working on adding a larger pipe underneath N. Coast Hwy 101 that will finally bring relief to the area.

Since 2020, the city has been working on the Leucadia Streetscape project, a massive renovation of Leucadia’s portion of Coast Hwy 101 that includes traffic circle roundabouts, new sidewalks, improved bike lanes and more.

It also includes stormwater drainage improvements, like new curb inlets and catch basins and additional, smaller storm drain pipes.

In the first segment of the project, which wrapped up in August 2022, the city spent $9 million on the northern portion of N. Coast Hwy 101, and that included $1.7 million in drainage improvements.

The next phase of the streetscape project, which is slated to begin this month, is costing the city $20 million, with $6.8 million slated for drainage improvements.

Still to come is the installation of a new 60-inch pipe underneath N. Coast Hwy 101. That’s the piece of the project that city officials say will drastically improve the area’s drainage structure.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded the city $4 million last month for the new 60-inch pipe, but that money only covers part of the work required to install the new pipe underneath the entire 2.5-mile stretch of the N. Coast Hwy 101.

The remaining drainage work is estimated to cost about $20.9 million, which the city doesn’t currently have funding for, according to a Feb. 14 city staff report.

Some residents have been critical of the city for choosing to finish the aboveground portions of the Leucadia Streetscape project before installing the new underground pipe. The city is slated to spend $20 million so far on the aboveground construction, money that could have been used to finish the drainage portion of the project first.

Public speakers at the Feb. 14 meeting implored the City Council to finally make these drainage improvements a priority, saying it’s long overdue.

It’s still unclear where additional funding will come from, but the City Council is expected to discuss the city’s budget and funding recommendations in the coming weeks.

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