Camino Cap Interchange Work Has 1 1/2 Months to Go

I-5/CAMINO CAPISTRANO INTERCHANGE: Phase 1 of the construction was completed on Dec. 5. Completion of this phase allows additional through and right turn traffic lanes to be opened for northbound Camino Capistrano, south of the I-5 ramps. In addition, the extended auxiliary off-ramp deceleration lane on the freeway was opened. Phase 2 shifts construction to the west side of Camino Capistrano to construct an additional southbound lane from south of San Juan Creek Road to the widened portion of Camino Capistrano by the car wash. To accommodate this work, southbound Camino Capistrano, south of Avenida Padre, has been narrowed from two lanes to one lane. Because of the reduction to one southbound lane, the westbound lanes of San Juan Creek Road at Camino Capistrano have been restriped for only one left turn lane and two right-turn lanes. This work will be performed at night. Due to construction delays caused by the recent rains, the project is scheduled for completion by March 15. .

I-5/ORTEGA INTERCHANGE: Construction is scheduled to begin mid-February 2013, and to be completed in spring of 2015. For more detailed information, contact Caltrans Public Information Officer, David Richardson, at (949) 724-2341, or visit the project website. A link to this website is also on the homepage of the city’s website.

As part of the Caltrans project to widen the I-5 and replace the Ortega Bridge, the city has water and sewer pipelines and appurtenances that must be relocated. The city’s work will be completed throughout the next several months in “construction windows” made available by Caltrans as they are completing their construction work on the freeway and bridge.

SENIOR SUPER BOWL PARTY: Senior Program Coordinator, Heidi Ivanoff and the Senior Club will host a Super Bowl XLVII party for the seniors at the Community Center. Seniors are welcome to come to the Community Center on Sunday, Feb. 2. Doors open at 2:30 p.m. for pre-game refreshments, pizza and other snacks. Kick-off is at 3:30 p.m.

EAST OPEN SPACE-RANCHO MISSION VIEJO RIDING PARK: At its Jan. 14, special meeting, the Open Space, Trails and Equestrian Commission received an update on the status of conceptual design for the East Open Space-Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park multi-use trail alignment and also began developing its 2013 work priorities. The goal of OSTEC is to develop priorities that are consistent with the City Council priorities and meet important open space objectives for the city.

REATA PARK AND EVENT CENTER: On Dec. 11, the City Council approved the San Juan Capistrano Open Space Foundation’s plans and a Memorandum of Understanding for the long-anticipated Reata Park & Event Center improvements. The Foundation is now ready to secure the demolition permit to begin site preparation. City staff will be working with the OSF to develop an operations  and management plan for the site pursuant to the MOU, and assuring all mitigation measures are implemented.

FINANCIAL AUDIT: The city’s auditors, Rogers, Anderson, Malody & Scott, presented the city’s audit or the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012 at the Jan. 15 City Council meeting. The city received an unqualified audit opinion or “clean audit” with no findings related to internal control over financial reporting and compliance or other matters to report to the City Council.

For the year ended June 30, 2012, the city’s general fund revenues exceeded expenditures by $972,105 and the general fund contingency reserve as of June 30, 2012 was 29.8 percent, which is up from the originally projected contingency reserve of 25.3 percent in the Third Quarter Financial Report. The Water Operations Fund improved by $1.5 million for the year, reducing the deficit from $6.6 million to $5.1 million. Lastly, the Sewer Enterprise Fund operating reserve is $2.2 million, an increase of $400,000 from the prior year.

TURF REMOVAL REBATES: It will be warming up before you know it, so remember to apply for the Turf Removal Rebate to replace your water thirsty lawn with drought tolerant and California friendly plants. Funding for this program will end on April 15. You may find details and the application for this lawn incentive here.

DEL OBISPO STREET BRIDGE WIDENING: In the past week, the contractor graded the proposed landscape areas along the south side of Del Obispo east of Alipaz Street, and along the west side of Paseo Adelanto south of Del Obispo Street. Workers installed irrigation lines, added truncated domes at handicap ramps, and installed some fencing to the fence poles. The project is expected to be completed in February.

SUN RANCH CREEK PROJECT: Recent rains have caused minor delays to the project to shore up a drainage area, but with clear weather forecasted for the next week we should see more progress. With the storm drain completed, Spiess Construction will be concentrating on installation of fill to final grades and begin establishment of the access road and streambed final elevations. At the same time, progress will continue on the retaining wall. Construction completion is expected in March.

CONTRACT CLASSES: The winter edition of the Hometown Happenings Newsletter is available to view online and is available for pick up at the San Juan Capistrano Community Center. To register for all classes, please call the Community Services Department at (949) 493-5911.

See all our latest stories here.