Improve Traffic Flow

By Lawrence J "Larry" Kramer, Capt, USN (Ret.)

Many improvements have been done or are in progress but much remains to be accomplished

We have made major strides in traffic flow, in the last four years:

The Rancho Viejo Road/JSerra intersection improvement has provided good relief.
The Camino Capistrano/Del Obispo intersection provided additional lanes, which has eased congestion in that area.
The red light cameras have been removed, which caused unnecessary delays at intersections.
The I-5 off-ramp at Camino Capistrano was completed and a section of Camino Capistrano was widened, lessening traffic impacts.
The Del Obispo bridge over Trabuco Creek was widened and additional lanes were added.
The "ghost train" problem seems to defy an easy solution. A final solution must await the railroad installing Positive Control on all trains and the intersection.

There has been much in progress, but much remains to be done. While aggravating in the short run, these improvements will provide major traffic relief in the long term:

The major item is the Ortega Highway/I-5 Intersection, which is scheduled for completion in late 2015. As Mayor, I established an economic preservation committee to work with local businesses to provide assistance during this challenging construction period. This committee has helped to reduce the impact of the interchange work.
OCTA has begun the continuing of the HOV lanes from San Juan Capistrano to Pico in San Clemente. This should provide traffic relief between those two points.
The construction of La Pata Road will provide an additional transportation corridor to San Clemente and points south. Construction will begin this spring.
We have worked with the county to complete the preliminary work on the widening of Ortega highway from the Hunt Club to the city limit. The project is currently in design and the EIR is being revalidated.
We have approved a traffic circle at the I-5 off ramp at Valle Road, which should start soon after the work on the Ortega Highway/I-5 Intersection is completed.
In the near future, two additional lanes will be provided on San Juan Creek Road under the I-5 overpass.
OCTA is coordinating traffic lights along Del Obispo to better synchronize them and smooth the flow of traffic. It seems unnecessary for the traffic lights at both Via Belardes and Aguacate Road intersections with Del Obispo to automatically change to red at night when the traffic volume is low. They should only turn red on Del Obispo if a pedestrian wants to cross the street at those locations.
I advocate increasing all of Del Obispo to two lanes in both directions.

As a final note all of our public railroad crossings are now designated safe crossings and the blowing of horns by trains is no longer required. I have heard many favorable comments from the general public about this change.