Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a state law that locks in the separated bike lane on Santa Fe Drive in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, ending the Encinitas City Council's push to remove it.

Newsom signed Senate Bill 114 on Friday, Sept. 18, as first reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune. The budget trailer bill includes a provision, authored by state Sen. Catherine Blakespear, that bars Encinitas from removing or modifying the protected bike lane for at least five years. If the city defies the law, it must repay a $3.09 million state grant that funded most of the project.

The signing overrides the council's 4-1 vote in September to send a letter asking Newsom to veto the provision. Council member Joy Lyndes cast the lone dissenting vote on that request.

Mayor Bruce Ehlers told the Union-Tribune on Monday, Sept. 28, that city officials are exploring legal options. "How would you like it if somebody took a grant back three years after it was granted (and) changed the rules?" Ehlers said.

What the law requires

The roughly $4 million Santa Fe Drive overhaul, completed in 2025 between Gardena Road and Evergreen Drive, added separated bike lanes, narrower vehicle lanes, back-in parking spots, new curbs, sidewalks and stormwater controls. Blakespear secured the $3.09 million state grant for the project in July 2023, when a different council majority held office.

Under SB 114, the bike lane cannot be touched for five years. Between five and 15 years after construction, the city may remove it only if the removal "results in equal or greater safety, accessibility and mobility for non-motorized users," according to the law.

Blakespear said the provision does not block other changes to the roadway, including removing the back-in parking spots. It applies only to the bike lane.

Council's redesign in limbo

The council had backed a roughly $3.5 million redesign that would strip the separated bike lane on the south side of Santa Fe Drive, across from San Dieguito Academy High School, eliminate back-in parking and widen vehicle lanes. That redesign also passed 4-1, with Lyndes opposed. The city authorized a design contract with Michael Baker International on Feb. 25, and staff presented a 50% design at a special council meeting on June 24.

Ehlers has argued the separated lane near the high school is dangerous because numerous driveway entrances, including ones to a church and a 25-unit housing development, create potential for "right hook" accidents where turning cars collide with cyclists.

Blakespear countered that the current bike lane is missing safety features that were originally planned. After the 2024 election shifted the council majority, she said, work stopped and measures including speed bumps at driveway entrances were never built.

The city's veto letter cited four court decisions and argued the provision may constitute unconstitutional special legislation because it applies only to Encinitas, according to North County Pipeline.

Political backdrop

Blakespear first tried a standalone bill, SB 569, that would have barred modifications to state-funded bike lanes for 20 years. It passed the state Senate but failed to clear the Assembly by the Aug. 31 deadline, as KPBS reported. She then inserted the narrower Encinitas-specific provision into SB 114 on Aug. 28, according to a city staff report.

The bike lane fight has become an election issue. Ehlers, a registered Independent, faces Democrat Rimga Viskanta, a San Dieguito Union High School District board member who supports keeping the protected lane. The mayor's seat is a two-year term.

No next council meeting date or legal deadline tied to the city's response has been announced.