PHOTOS: The Sprucing up of Rancho Mission Viejo

It may still look like a construction zone around Ortega Highway and Antonio Parkway, but it did get a little greener this week.

Workers building the first phase of the Rancho Mission Viejo project have recently installed two monument signs and lots of trees along the streets.

According to information provided by the builder, the monuments signs, one on Ortega Highway just east of San Juan Capistrano and one at the entrance to the Sendero along Antonio, are made of indigenous rocks. 

While the lettering -- at least on the Ortega Highway sign for now but soon on the other -- is all shiny and new, according to Rancho Mission Viejo, owned by the O’Neill/Avery/Moiso family since 1882, over time oxidation will turn it a rust color, “reflecting the natural aging process of ranching equipment used by the Rancho Mission Viejo family for decades,” according to a development fact sheet.

Sendero will be open the public, starting June 29.

All Patch photos credit Penny Arévalo.