Closure allows crews to reconfigure roadway
ORANGE – Ortega Highway will close between I-5 and Del Obispo Street in San Juan Capistrano for approximately three weeks beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 3.
The closure allows crews to reconfigure the roadway as part of the I-5/Ortega Highway Interchange Improvement Project.
Westbound motorists who do not detour on La Novia Avenue or Rancho Viejo Road will be directed onto the I-5 on-ramp because of the bridge closure. However, southbound motorists on I-5 can continue to use the Ortega Highway exit to turn left and travel eastbound over the bridge, but right turns will be prohibited.
Motorists traveling northbound on I-5 can continue to use the Ortega Highway exit to travel eastbound on Ortega Highway. When turning west to access the bridge, drivers will be directed onto the I-5 northbound on-ramp.
The bridge will be closed to pedestrians.
Area residents are being notified by phone, email and social media about the closure and more than a dozen directional signs have been installed to indicate detours.
The $86 million improvement project includes the widening of the Ortega Highway bridge and the reconstruction of on- and off-ramps in order to help relieve traffic for regional commuters and local drivers.
The reconfigured roadway is expected to reopen on Nov. 25. Traffic will also be shifted to the newly constructed portion of the southbound I-5 off-ramp and to the newly constructed bridge at this time.
For more information, please visit www.octa.net/ortega.
