San Juan Capistrano will seek funding to widen Ortega Highway

A nearly one mile section of the Ortega Highway in San Juan Capistrano which is considered a choke point, will eventually be widened from two lanes to four.

The San Juan Capistrano City Council has agreed to seek state funding for the widening project on the Highway from the Hunt Club to Reata Park.

Council member John Taylor says the road could have been widened years ago because between 2010 and 2014, the City Council at the time had approved the widening and the funding was in place. But the next City Council had denied the widening of the road and the funding for the project had disappeared, so now the current City Council is back to square one for the project and the funding.

Taylor says the time-line for the widening is unknown and the total cost will be around 70 million dollars.