The bustling streets of Downtown San Diego and the neighboring Barrio Logan are in for a traffic shuffle as the City embarks on a new phase of its substantial sewer overhaul slated to tangle up commutes near Harbor Drive. As reported by San Diego’s official site, locals and visitors aiming for hotspots like Petco Park or the Convention Center are getting the heads-up to brace for detours, delays, and the inevitable hunt for parking.

The $42.2 million Harbor Drive Trunk Sewer project is deep into its mission to replace a vital yet aging sewage pipeline, installed in the year many could only read about in history books, 1941, and last given a facelift in 1979. The new infrastructure, which spans over 4,000 linear feet, is expected to keep up with the ever-growing sanitation demands of the area. Harbor Drive is currently seeing one lane of traffic in each direction from Park Boulevard to Beardsley Street, with the project's phases 1 through 3 already unfolding and phase 4 on the horizon, ready to kick off within months, aiming for a full wrap by early 2025.

When the construction rattles into its final phase, the layout will shift dramatically: southbound lanes for vehicles and bikes are slated to shut down entirely, routing all Harbor Drive travelers into just two lanes headed north. The City's update puts it plain that those by car or by pedal will be sharing the road, literally, one lane each. For commuters who've had their fill of bumper-to-bumper frustration, the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System offers a lifeline with trolley stations and bus routes within reach of the most affected spots. A quick visit to the MTS's online trip planner can sketch the smoothest transit alternate.