La Pata Road Proceeds, But Was It Needed?

For many it is simply a convenience to San Clemente residents heading north.

For residents of Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano and other communities, it might become a quick way to the beach when the 5 freeway is crawling at a few miles per hour as it often is.

But the La Pata road construction is in full swing across a valley near Ortega highway. It is a massive project to say the least with funding coming from local government, the federal government for San Onofre Nuclear safety reasons (no longer an issue since decommissioned, although waste will be kept there for duration), and with funding from Rancho Mission Viejo.

The bigger question is whether it will actually provide traffic reductions, since the usual pattern has been that roads get built for relief, development occurs around those roads and traffic again becomes congested.

The secondary question is what kind of benefits RMV gets from this project, funded primarily by the public.

Opinion and photo piece by Nature Commission on La Pata