CAPISTRANO BEACH : Board OKs Plan to Reroute Bus Lines

A longtime crusade by Camino Capistrano residents to reroute large and noisy passenger buses from their neighborhood ended in victory Monday with a series of changes adopted by the Orange County Transportation Authority.

In a unanimous vote, the Orange County Transportation Authority Board of Directors approved a recommendation made by the Dana Point City Council in June to reroute two bus lines out of Capistrano Beach and shift minibuses to those routes instead.

“To me, that is a good example of the bureaucracy trying to meet the needs of the people in the community,” said Camino Capistrano resident Mike Reed.

With the changes, which will start Sept. 13, bus lines No. 1 and 85 will end at Domingo Avenue in Dana Point’s Doheny Park area, rather than continuing on Camino Capistrano to K mart Plaza on Camino de Estrella in San Clemente. The heavily used San Clemente route 91/91A will stay the same and keep stops at K mart Plaza, while minibus lines 394/394A will be rerouted to serve Capistrano Beach and shuttle people between Domingo Avenue and K mart Plaza.