7/29/2019 El Horno Letter

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SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO

Cham ber o f Com m erce

Thursday, February 07, 2013

Ma yor Taylor & Me mb ers of the C ounc il:

On b eha lf of the San Juan C apistrano C ham be r of Co mm erce s Boa rd of Direc tors, I

am w riting to urge the City of San Juan Ca pistrano to c onsider the temp orary

op ening of the El Horno Street underc rossing for vehic le tra ffic during t he Ortega

Highw ay rec onstruc tion project .

Until its com p letion, this projec t w ill have trem end ous neg ative imp ac ts on o ur

residents and businesses throughout its multi-yea r planne d timeline. Even now, p rior

to the p rojec t, traffic is a lwa ys a t the top of m any residents list o f mo st p ressing issues

fac ing our City. Traffic not only d iminishes the qua lity of life o f residen ts, it also

imp ed es ec onom ic ac tivity and ca n impac t p ublic safety b y extending respo nse

times.

Simp ly put , El Horno Street is the only rea listic a lternative we have to a llevia te the East

West c onnec tion shortage tha t will be c aused by this p rojec t. We be lieve it is

impo rtant tha t the City of San Juan Ca p istrano ta ke step s to eva luate using the El

Horno unde rc rossing for vehic le traffic d uring this time p eriod .

We rec og nize there a re ne w issues tha t would a rise from op ening El Horno. The

adjac ent ne ighbo rhoo d is hom e to ma ny residenc es, the Scout Hut, c hildren s

p rog rams at the Lac oua gue Building, etc . The p reservation of the unique feel of this

neighb orhood and the safe ty of the residents (pa rticularly the c hildren) a re imp ortant

fac to rs tha t shou ld b e c onside red as part o f this d isc ussion.

However, it is be causeof these c onc erns that w e sugg est ac tion now. At this

relatively early sta ge , we have time to wo rk collab oratively with the residents andothe r stakeholders who w ould be d irec tly imp ac ted by suc h a change . It is our hop e

that with everyones input a m utually agreea ble plan ca n be e nac ted tha t would

reduce construction-related traffic issues and add ress those sa fety c oncerns. For

exam ple, the C ity might c onsider restric ting a c cess to La Ma tanza / and La Ca lera

and/ or utilizing som e kind of speed imp ed ime nts a long the route.

I wo uld like to spec ific a lly note tha t our sugge stion fo r the use o f El Horno Street is

temp orary and c onfined to the c onstruction period . We rec omm end that a ny action

ta ken by the City includes a p lan fo r El Horno Street s re-c losure up on the c om pletion

of this p rojec t s p rimary traffic imp ac ts.

Tha nk you fo r your considera tion.

Mark Bod enham er

Preside nt/ CEO

San Juan Ca p istrano C ham ber of Com merc e

2012-2013BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Executive BoardStephanie Frisch

ChairmanCarolyn Franks

Chair ElectAnn Ronan

TreasurerAnthony Holguin

Secretary

DirectorsRicardo Beas

Jim CarterO.J. Gause

John HeffernanCarl Linhardt

David MaltMelissa McCormack

Becky RodarteKetra Slayton

Matthew TimmesAce Villagrana

CHAMBER STAFF

Mark BodenhamerChief Executive Officer

Jennifer PointerOperations Manager

Claire SussexProgram Manager

San Juan Capistrano Chamber of Commerce31421 La Matanza St. San Juan Capistrano, California 92693

Phone: (949) 493-4700 Fax: (949) 489-2695Email: info@sanjuanchamber.com Website: www.sanjuanchamber.com