DANA POINT : Ground Broken for Creek Bridge

Ground was broken Wednesday for the long-awaited Stonehill Drive extension, which planners say will reduce traffic congestion by giving South County commuters another link to the San Diego Freeway.

A group of dignitaries, including County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, mayors Kenneth E. Friess of San Juan Capistrano and Bill Bamattre of Dana Point, and other state and local officials assembled near San Juan Creek for the ground-breaking ceremony.

“Our traffic experts project that it will reduce traffic downtown by as much as 40-45% at peak times,” Friess said. “Those same experts tell us that about 55% of the traffic that runs through central downtown are people who live in Dana Point. Those folks will probably be inclined to use Stonehill.”

Today, Dana Point residents who wish to use the freeway have only three options, all of them heavily impacted, according to county transportation experts--Coast Highway, Del Obispo Street or a surface street route through Laguna Niguel. But Stonehill Drive will give those motorists another option.

The 2,545-foot extension of Stonehill Drive over the creek dates back to 1957 when the roadway first appeared on a county arterial highway map. But its planning really began about 20 years ago, according to San Juan Capistrano city planners. Construction is expected to take about a year.

While the design of the $10.5 million road extension includes two bridges--one spanning the creek and the other the railroad line--planners agree that the paper chase to get the project approved was more convoluted than the engineering. At least 21 government agencies were involved, as were several private landowners.

Richard Hart, the county’s lead engineer for the project, said that getting permission from the Public Utilities Commission to cross the railroad line was the “biggest headache.” It alone took more than two years, Hart said.

Caltrans secured a $7.2-million federal grant, which funds the majority of the extension, which ties into the San Diego Freeway on its eastern end. Ken Smith, the county’s director of transportation, said federal funding carries bureaucratic hurdles along with it, all of which delayed the start.

“This has been a case study in federal funding, the pros and cons,” Smith said. “The money is great to get, but it adds months to the project.”

Officials from Dana Point and San Juan Capistrano are also considering an adjunct project, an access road that would run off the extension to property fronting the creek on the eastern side. But that project, which would open up that property to new development, will be addressed at a later date, city officials say.

All the work will be worth it in the end, said Councilwoman Karen Lloreda of Dana Point. “Maybe I’ll be able to make it to City Hall in less than 30 minutes in the summer,” she said.