Interstate 5/California 74 Ortega Highway Improvements

[andy3175]

http://www.octa.net/Freeways-and-Streets/Santa-Ana-Freeway-(I-5)/I-5-/-Ortega-Highway-Interchange-Improvement-Project/

The Ortega Highway Project is entering its last year of construction, and Caltrans is preparing to shift traffic onto the newly constructed bridge before the end of 2014. ... Caltrans District 12 is currently reconstructing the Ortega Highway interchange at the I-5 freeway in San Juan Capistrano. Construction began in February 2013 and is expected to last approximately two years as crews work to widen the Ortega Highway Bridge, reconstruct on- and off-ramps, construct a new northbound I-5 loop on-ramp from eastbound Ortega Highway as well as realign the Ortega Highway interchange. The project was initiated by Caltrans, OCTA and the City of San Juan Capistrano, as the solution to the "choke point", where significant delays and congestion occur along the Ortega Highway (SR-74) at the San Diego Freeway (I-5) interchange. ... This $86.2 million project is funded in part by local and county funding, including Measure M, Orange County's half-cent sales transportation tax. In addition, funding is provided by the State Transportation Improvement Program and Corridor Mobility Improvement Act. ... Start Date: Early 2013 (and) Completion Date: Spring 2015.

The webpage also has some good visuals of how the interchange will look when complete in early 2015. The former standard diamond will convert into a partial cloverleaf with one added loop onramp from eastbound Ortega Highway onto Interstate 5 north. The overpass is widened, and the development pattern and road network on the west side of the interchange changes dramatically, with Ortega Highway west to be transitioning directly onto Del Obispo Street southbound (and a right turn needed to follow Ortega Highway west to Mission San Juan Capistrano.