Jacob Palmer and Michael Palmer, San Juan Capistrano
First off, I’ll introduce myself. I am Jacob Palmer, and I write this letter with my father Michael Palmer.
We operate Palmer Construction and are long-time residents of San Juan Capistrano. We love this town and plan on living here for many more years. The current events in our town are a constant source of conversation between my dad and I and the freeway interchange construction has been of great interest to us.
We have only just realized that the landscape of our downtown has changed in a way that we had not considered previously. As I am sure other residents of San Juan have noticed, Ortega Highway has become noticeably split into two sections. There is now a portion of the road on the west side of I-5 and a portion of the road on the east side of I-5.
This is a great opportunity to add more culture to the downtown area by renaming the portion of Ortega Highway that is west of the I-5. Our suggestion for a new name is Old Mission Road. I think that that name perfectly represents what that stretch of Ortega Highway is. It is the gateway to our town from I-5 and would really give what is essentially a new autonomous street the name that fits with the style of our downtown.
Many people may ask if it is possible to rename this portion of Ortega Highway because of the state control over SR-74. It is my understanding that SR-74 begins its state-controlled run at the intersection with I-5, and the Ortega Highway west of I-5 is under the control of the city of San Juan Capistrano.
It is our opinion that the name Ortega Highway should be changed to better fit the culture of our small town and we suggest that a forum be opened for the residents of San Juan to express their opinions on the matter.
