I-5 Closed Friday, Saturday Nights at Ortega Highway

By Penny Arévalo

Workers will shut down the northbound I-5 freeway at Ortega Highway tonight (Friday) between midnight and 6 a.m. Saturday.

Then southbound drivers will have their turn Saturday night, from midnight until 6 a.m. Sunday morning, according to an email from Caltrans.

It’s all part of the project to rebuild the Ortega Highway bridge over the I-5 and the adjacent ramps.

The Friday night detour for northbound traffic will have all cars exit at Ortega, then jump right back on at Ortega.

The Saturday night detour for southbound traffic will do the same, forcing all traffic to exit at Ortega, then re-enter the freeway on the other side of the bridge.

Clearing the traffic directly under the bridge will allow workers to construct falsework—temporary support to spanning or arched structures.

Meanwhile, San Juan Capistrano traffic will not be able to get on the freeway at Ortega at all during either freeway shutdown. Ortega Highway between Del Obispo Street and Rancho Viejo Road will be closed to all traffic.