DANA POINT : City Moves to Curb Some Truck Traffic

Large trucks may be outlawed along portions of Camino Capistrano, Camino Estrella, Stonehill Drive and other residential streets in this city if the council adopts a proposed ordinance.

Council members took the first steps this week toward establishing a formal truck route by proposing to limit trucks to five streets which run through town. The ordinance is a response to complaints from residents, according to City Engineer Robert Sergeant.

“The ordinance is aimed at commercial trucks that often leave the (Santa Ana) freeway and take short cuts along these streets,” Sergeant said. Primary targets are gasoline delivery trucks and concrete mixers, Sergeant said.

If adopted at the council’s Feb. 13 meeting, large trucks (over 10,000 pounds) would be limited to the entire lengths of Coast Highway and Del Prado Avenue, Street of the Golden Lantern from Del Prado to the north city limits, Crown Valley Parkway from Coast Highway to the east city limits and Del Obispo Street from Coast Highway to the northern city limits.

“No truck” signs would be posted along Stonehill Drive, Camino Estrella and the appropriate portions of Camino Capistrano, as well as other streets that are designated as having problems, Sergeant said. The portion of Camino Capistrano that has become a problem runs south of the Beach Cities off-ramp of the Santa Ana Freeway and east of Coast Highway along the Palisades bluffs, Sergeant said.

“These trucks are not what you want running down your residential streets,” Councilman Mike Eggers said. “Besides the complaints from residents, there is also the problem of potential damage to the roads.”