The City of Carlsbad’s Carlsbad Beach Stairs Replacement and Sidewalk Widening project paused for the summer on Friday, May 22, 2026 after seven months of “work.” The original plan outlined by the city was to “widen the sidewalk” which basically meant removing the safety barrier between the road and the sidewalk along Carlsbad Bvld., replace the railing along the upper seawall sidewalk, and completely rebuild all four sets of stairs to the beach.
As of the Memorial Day 2026 “pause” the only piece of the project that could be argued as “completed” was the “widening of the sidewalk” for about two blocks on Carlsbad Blvd. The longest section of the traffic barrier is still on the sidewalk as shown in the photo on the right.
The railing along the south section of the upper sidewalk is incomplete with temporary fencing up for the majority of the seawall, and the stairs at Cherry Ave (shown below) and Hemlock Ave. are nowhere near being done and are, in fact, closed and fenced off with Keep Out signs for the entire summer.
The City of Carlsbad claims there were some “unforeseen” issues early on that required major redesigns and that these issues are what slowed progress on the project. They also say they are very happy with the project management company that they have onsite monitoring progress on the project. However, as one Carlsbad seawall local explained, “This is what happens when you have three people working three hours a day, four days a week.”
The project, which the City claims was scheduled for two separate phases, will now see all four sets of stairs replaced next winter after construction on the project begins again after Labor Day weekend with hopes of having the entire project completed by Spring of 2027.
Welcome to Carlsbad, good luck finding your way to the beach.
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
A large power outage affected upwards of 103,000 customers from South Orange County to Cardiff-by-the-Sea on the evening of March 26, 2026. The outage, which also saw the east side of Escondido and the San Pasqual Valley go dark, began around 7:40 PM and left much of the Coast in the dark for approximately a hour during prime time March Madness. 
RSS Feed-Posts