alleymon Ortega Highway Re-Opened Friday at 3:00pm
To the delight of the 15,000 commuters who use the two lane road connecting Lake Elsinore in Riverside County to San Juan Capistrano in Orange County, Ortega Highway was reopened after substantial repair work was completed. Damage to the roadway caused a nightmare commute for many for more than two weeks. The increased traffic on the 91 freeway and on highway 76 between Fallbrook and Oceanside was a wake up call for the highway planners. Once again planners will try and decied what approach is best to relieve the gridlock. Ideas from a double decker on the 91 to tunneling under the mountains have been floated.
My opinion is that we will see many years of debate and when a decision is finally reached it will take many more years to implement. The short term is that we will continue to see increased traffic on all roads leading to the OC from Riverside. But for now, I’m happy that my favorite route to work is once again available. Thanks Cal Trans for your hard work getting the road open. Now if you could just make it a bit wider, say 2 lanes on each side (without shutting it down).