For the next few weeks, pile driving on Interstate 5 (I-5) in San Juan Capistrano will require periodic closures of two southbound lanes as contractors work to widen the freeway.
The closures are necessary so workers have room to safely perform pile driving, which is being done to create a stable foundation for the freeway widening. Because the work is loud and disruptive, it is not being performed at night. The pile driving must be completed before Feb. 15, when environmental regulations prevent the work from occurring because of nesting season for birds and bats. Nesting season is between Feb. 15 and Sept. 1.
The work will occur on the southbound side of I-5 on the slope adjacent to Camino Capistrano, between Stonehill Drive and Doheny Park Road.
The $230 million widening project is constructing a carpool lane in each direction on I-5 between Avenida Pico in San Clemente and San Juan Creek Road in San Juan Capistrano, an area that is notorious for weekend traffic jams and weekday rush-hour bottlenecks.
The project will help alleviate the backups by providing a continuous number of lanes – four general-purpose and one carpool – in each direction, eliminating the need for motorists to merge with the existing carpool lanes as they must do now. The project also will reconstruct the Avenida Pico interchange.
The Measure M project is funded with Orange County’s half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements as well as state and federal dollars.
