South Orange County develops plans for traffic improvement

  • 2019-11-23
The Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency (F/ETCA) and the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) are working together on several plans to improve traffic congestion on Interstate 5, and will be hosting open houses through December to gain feedback from the public on their plans.

The plan will affect many cities, including Lake Forest, Laguna Hills, San Juan Capistrano, Dana Point, and unincorporated south county. CalTrans has reported that during the weekend and peak commuting hours, there are more cars than the Interstate was designed to handle. Such lack of mobility in the area can hinder potential evacuations during emergencies such as storms, wildfires, and other disasters. The purpose of the plans is to improve vehicular movement in a north-south direction in South Orange County and accommodate travel demand.

Printing services are often used to create materials to delineate such plans and provide greater details for evaluation purposes.

Among the improvements are new general purpose and managed lanes on the Interstate, new connections between SR-73, Avery Parkway, Antonio Parkway, and Ortega Highway, and extensions to several other major thoroughfares. These improvements will be between 4 and 22 miles long.

Residents of Lake Forest and South Orange County will have the opportunity to attend a public scope meeting in the format of an open house, learn about the project, and provide their feedback until December 9.