LAGUNA HILLS : Oso-Cabot Intersection to Get Right-Turn Lane

Hoping to ease traffic congestion at the busy Oso Parkway-Cabot Road intersection, the City Council has agreed to create a right-turn lane.

The council voted 4 to 1 to re-stripe westbound Oso Parkway at Cabot Road, designating two lanes for through traffic and the third for right turns only.

Councilwoman Cindy Greengold opposed the change, arguing that requiring cars to merge into the left two lanes might be hazardous.

“I’m just concerned about accidents happening,” she said. “It’s a short distance to merge.”

City Engineer Ken Rosenfield said vehicles would have about 100 feet to merge.

Though 200 feet would be preferable, Rosenfield told the council, the re-striping plan “meets the minimum we need. . . . I’m comfortable recommending it to you.”

Traffic on Oso Parkway and Cabot Road has increased since the recent extension of the roadway to the foothill communities around Rancho Santa Margarita and last year’s opening of the Mission Viejo Freeway Center.

Rosenfield surveyed the streets and found that during typical morning peak hours, 847 cars go through the intersection, while 1,712 turn right from Oso to Cabot.

“With that volume of traffic, I think we have to make some type of effort to alleviate the problem,” Mayor Joel T. Lautenschleger said.