The Coast Highway 101 bridge over San Elijo Lagoon needs major repairs after an engineering study rated the 92-year-old structure in "poor" condition, Encinitas officials said. Construction could be about five years away.

Engineering Director Dan Nutter presented the findings to the City Council on Thursday, Sept. 10, calling the repair process "arduous."

"This is an arduous process … It is going to take us some time," Nutter said.

The assessment, conducted by Kleinfelder Inc., found the 200-foot reinforced concrete bridge is "showing signs of deterioration," including chipped concrete and rusting rebar. But "poor" does not mean unsafe, Kleinfelder engineer Kelly Burnell told the council. The assessment found the bridge needs repair work, not replacement.

The bridge, built in 1934 and widened in 1953, sits just south of the San Elijo State Beach campground. It carries four vehicle lanes, protected bike lanes in each direction and pedestrian walkways on each side. The western walkway, with its ocean views, draws more foot traffic but is narrower than the east side.

Funding and the 'betterment' question

The "poor" rating makes the bridge eligible for the Federal Highway Administration's Highway Bridge Program (HBP). Repairs would be covered by federal grant money the city has been told it will receive, plus about $3.5 million in city matching funds, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

The city must first work with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to determine what counts as a covered "repair" versus a "betterment," or improvement. Any major improvements, such as widening the narrow pedestrian walkway, would fall in the betterment category. Encinitas would have to pay the full cost of those upgrades, Nutter said.

Councilmember Joy Lyndes, who represents the Cardiff region where the bridge sits, said residents will want those pedestrian improvements given how many walkers and cyclists cross the bridge daily. She urged the city to bundle improvements with the repair work.

"We're probably never going to have a better opportunity," Lyndes said.

The city's project page shows the rehabilitation project is currently in design. In 2019, Caltrans told city staff the bridge was a strong candidate for federal HBP funding. In February 2025, the federal government certified the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) 2025 Regional Transportation Improvement Program, which included a partial allocation of design funding for the project. The bridge carries a sufficiency rating of 60.4 out of 100.

Citywide bridge review

The City Council awarded Kleinfelder a $270,000 contract in January to evaluate all 46 of the city's bridges and develop a 10-year repair plan. The firm assessed nine conventional bridges, 11 culvert bridge structures and 26 pedestrian-only structures.

Only one other structure rated "poor": a pedestrian bridge over a drainage swale at Leucadia Oaks Park. A Town Center Drive bridge over a tributary of Encinitas Creek showed signs of corrosion that could push it from "fair" to "poor" if deterioration accelerates, the Kleinfelder report found.