New Road in Dana Point Expected to Ease Congestion

A short but strategically important new road opened Friday in Dana Point, and it is expected to ease some of the traffic congestion on Coast Highway, a county transportation official said.

The 1.2-mile, four-lane, divided highway called Camino del Avion connects Crown Valley Parkway and Street of the Golden Lantern. The new highway was built with private funds from developers in the area, said Kenneth R. Smith, Orange County’s director of transportation.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Thomas F. Riley, whose district includes the area where the new highway opened, praised the opening of the new link.

“The completion of Camino del Avion allows county staff to now focus on other critical links in the 1990 Action Plan” for county highway improvements, Riley said.

“I understand the frustration of the coastal area residents in (the) south county who use our arterial highways,” he said, but added, “I’m proud of the progress we have made, and more improvements are on the way.”

Camino del Avion is a “critical east-west arterial highway” that will provide an alternative route for residents of Laguna Niguel and Dana Point who now use Coast Highway, according to Riley.

The opening of Camino del Avion has strategic significance to southern Orange County and provides long-needed traffic relief in booming southern Orange County, Smith said

“I think it’s real important because (there are) very few routes in that area going in an east-west direction,” Smith said. “It’ll relieve a lot of traffic on Coast Highway and on Stonehill (Drive).”

The $4.5-million construction cost of Camino del Avion came entirely from developer contributions. Developer-paid highways are now “the backbone of the county’s program for adding new roads,” Smith said.

“We’ve been forced into this type of financing because the (state) gas tax hasn’t been increased for many years.” The state gasoline tax is used to finance roads, highways and their improvement.

Smith said maintenance of the newly opened Camino del Avion will now be handled by the county and the city of Dana Point.