Update / Follow-up on the news
The City Council has approved a Caltrans proposal to widen Ortega Highway between Interstate 5 and Rancho Viejo Road.
Since 1993, Caltrans has worked with the city and community leaders on a way to widen portions of the congested corridor. The plan approved by the council calls for extending the westbound right-turn lane from Rancho Viejo to the Interstate 5 northbound onramp and adding a 400-foot-long eastbound right-turn lane at Ortega and Rancho Viejo.
The plans also call for landscaping and a 12-foot to 16-foot retaining wall at the entrance to the San Juan Capistrano Cemetery.
Despite approving the project, council members expressed concerns about how the retaining wall would look. Caltrans officials suggested planting vines to cover it, but the council directed its staff to research other options.
“I’m not crazy about walls, period,” Councilman John Greiner said.
Caltrans officials said the project will take four months to complete.
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