Small Stretch of New Road Is Big Step for Young Community : Traffic: Oso Parkway extension gives residents of rural, secluded Rancho Santa Margarita a much-needed new route to the outside world.

It was a grand celebration fit for a returning hero or the opening of a major league ballpark. There were huge strands of balloons swaying in the wind, a parade and a blessing from a Catholic priest--all for the opening of a small stretch of roadway.

But after years of red-tape delays and construction setbacks, Oso Parkway couldn’t be considered the average road project.

Monday’s hoopla was as much a collective sigh of relief as it was a celebration by this rural community, known as perhaps the most secluded in Orange County, and isolated further still by one of the most congested access roads in the region.

Coming on the heels of the recent Alicia Parkway extension, the new stretch of Oso Parkway, along with the newly opened Antonio Parkway extension, gives residents of Rancho Santa Margarita another access route to Interstate 5--and the outside world.

“It will have a huge effect on our lifestyle,” said Gary Carlisle, president of the Rancho Santa Margarita Civic Assn. “We can now get to our jobs, hospitals and emergency services a lot quicker. And the shopping malls and movie theaters, too.”

Built in the foothills of the Saddleback Mountains, the 6-year-old planned community is situated at the point where tract homes meet Mother Nature. Back-yard encounters with wildlife such as opossums, rattlesnakes and the occasional coyote are routine.

In contrast to the usual commuter lifestyle of other Southern California towns and cities, the master plan for Rancho Santa Margarita calls for the community to be virtually self-contained, with residents able to work, shop and play without ever leaving the area.

In a news feature, one major television network dubbed the community “Shangri-La”--a reference to its seemingly idyllic way of life.

But there was a price to be paid for the rural lifestyle of Rancho Santa Margarita. Until the parkway openings, there was only one major route into--and out of--the area. Commuters were forced to take Santa Margarita Parkway to El Toro Road, then drive about 12 miles on one of the county’s most congested roads to the freeway.

As the community grew to 15,000, so did the density of rush-hour traffic, eventually knotting almost the entire three-mile length of Santa Margarita Parkway.

“The traffic stunk,” said resident Jack Wynns, “it was not exactly Shangri-La up here. Now, it can only get a lot better.”

Adding to the community’s concern was the fact that a portion of Santa Margarita Parkway is built on a bridge. Only one other street, the winding, two-lane Trabuco Canyon Road, leads out of the area.

“If there was an earthquake and that bridge went, it would be disastrous,” said Diane Gaynor, spokesperson for the Santa Margarita Co., developer of the planned community. “The whole community would be cut off from ambulances and emergency help.”

The opening of Alicia Parkway last March has already had a marked effect on traffic.

A study done by the Santa Margarita Co. shows a 25% decline in traffic along Santa Margarita Parkway during peak hours since Alicia Parkway opened.

“The (Alicia) opening immediately opened up that bottleneck,” Carlisle said.

But not everybody is happy with traffic being rerouted through Mission Viejo streets. Although several Mission Viejo council members attended the Monday event, some said privately that many residents in their city living near Alicia Parkway were disturbed by the increase in vehicle noise and congestion on their street.

The $38-million roadway extension project is a small glimpse of the future for Rancho Santa Margarita.

The street extensions are part of the Foothill Circulation Phasing Plan, a massive, $250-million, public/private transportation venture that will help pave the way for the Foothill Transportation Corridor, a tollway that will start in San Clemente and almost cut Rancho Santa Margarita in half.

Santa Margarita Co. officials say the tollway will stimulate commercial growth, but won’t ruin the bucolic lifestyle of the residents.

“We’ve planned for this,” said Al Hollinden, company director of planning. “The (tollway) corridor is buffered by commercial areas on either side. Residential dwellings won’t be affected.”

Currently, only about 4 million of the 33 million square feet in commercial and retail space eventually planned for the area has been built, Hollinden said.

Local environmentalists, however, are highly critical of the project, saying the tollway’s construction will damage the ecosystem, and the additional building to accommodate commercial and retail businesses will simply lead to greater congestion.

“We’re gradually pushing the wildlife out further and this tollway is just another little step forward in that march,” said Stu Halbert, a Mission Viejo homeowner and environmental activist. “They’ll just spread out on either side of it and build more houses on the hills, like you see being done in other rural parts of the county.

“It’s kind of ironic that people move there to get away from it all, and wind up opening the door for more development,” he said.

But the tollway is a distant vision for other residents, many of whom aren’t disturbed by it.

“I don’t think anything will change dramatically,” said Terrie Hanson, whose daughter danced with an elementary school troupe in the parade on Monday. “We moved here to get away from the crime and congestion outside. There’s no such thing as a utopian situation, but I’ll take Rancho Santa Margarita.”

Relieving Congestion

Traffic officials expect the Oso and Antonio Parkway extensions to relieve traffic on Santa Margarita Parkway. Alicia Parkway extension opening 10 weeks ago reduced peak-hour traffic on Santa Margarita by 25%.