Still not any safer. The 'improvement' project was clearing some of the loose rock off the steeper slopes and adding heavy guard railing to keep cars (and motorcycles) from going over the side of the road into the San Juan Creek canyon around the Orange County/Riverside County line. That's a tight section of road even under the best conditions. The lower area suggested in an earlier post (SJC to Caspers Park) would be OK, so would the upper section from the Candy Store/San Juan Loop trail parking lot to El Cariso. Better yet would be to take an MTB up from Elsinore to El Cariso (I beleive there's still a fire road thats accessible), then on to the Main Divide for a ride up to Santiage Peak.

If you really want to do the climb from SJC to El Cariso, try it on a holiday. I was up there hiking Sitton Peak on New Years Day 2010 and there were almost no cars (even in the early afternoon).