55-Hour Weekend Closure Of Ortega Highway Canceled

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — A full 55-hour Ortega Highway closure scheduled this weekend was canceled, Caltrans District 8 announced Thursday.

While daytime work on the highway — officially known as state Route 74 — continues, a full shutdown that was slated to begin at 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18, and last through 4 a.m. Monday, Nov. 21 was nixed, the state agency said. The closure was planned from Monte Vista Street near Lake Elsinore to the Riverside County/Orange County line.

Caltrans warned Mother Nature could force a cancelation. A Fire Weather Watch will be in effect from 1 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday as more windy weather moves into the region, according to an updated National Weather Service report.

Caltrans did not provide an updated closure schedule.

Ongoing shutdowns on the winding highway are part of construction work for the SR-74 Ortega Highway Widening Project. The $60 million project, designed to make the highway safer, is expected to be completed in spring 2025. The work involves widening existing lanes and shoulders, and adding ground-in rumble strips on the shoulders and in a 2-foot-wide median from the Riverside County/Orange County line to Monte Vista Street.