Ortega Highway Scheduled To Close For 55 Hours This Weekend

LAKE ELSINORE, CA — Motorists who use the Ortega Highway will need to adjust their travel plans this weekend: Caltrans is planning a 55-hour full closure of the roadway starting Friday night.

The closure affects both directions of travel on the highway from the Riverside County/Orange County line to just west of Lake Elsinore at Main Divide Truck Trail, according to Caltrans District 8 spokesperson Carolina Rojas. The full shutdown will last from 9 p.m. Friday through 4 a.m. Monday.

The closure is needed for paving work that is part of the $60 million state Route 74 widening project that began in late 2020.

Residents and commuters will need to use alternate routes this weekend, according to Caltrans.

"Access through the work zone will be prohibited," the state agency reported.

Residents in the Decker Canyon and Long Canyon areas will be given access to and from Lake Elsinore via a pilot car, but there will be no access to Orange County.

Residents near Tenaja Truck Trail or west of it, including the Ortega Oaks RV Park and Campground and the Candy Store, will be given access to Orange County via a pilot car, but there will be no access to Lake Elsinore.

The state Route 74 widening project includes widening existing traffic lanes to 12 feet, widening shoulders to 4 feet, adding 1-foot-wide rumble strips on the shoulders, and adding a 2-foot-wide median.

The shoulder-widening work includes cutting rock slopes, installing fill slopes, and constructing retaining walls with concrete barriers.

The project scope extends in both directions from the Riverside/Orange County line to Monte Vista Street near Lake Elsinore.

The work is anticipated to be completed in the Spring of 2025, according to Caltrans.