Riley Urges Separate County Caltrans Office : Head of Supervisors Says Agency Staff in L.A. Is Too ‘Preoccupied’ With Century Freeway

Claiming that California Department of Transportation officials in Los Angeles are too “preoccupied” with the Century Freeway to give proper attention to Orange County highway projects, Board of Supervisors Chairman Thomas F. Riley called Monday for establishment of a separate Caltrans office in Orange County.

Riley said he was frustrated by one-year state financing delays for three major Orange County highway projects, including the straightening and widening of Ortega Highway and Laguna Canyon Road, both of which have been the scene of numerous fatal traffic accidents in recent years.

“We just had another fatal accident in Laguna Canyon over the weekend,” Riley said in an interview following Monday’s Orange County Transportation Commission board meeting. “I just think if we had our own Caltrans office it would be easier for the local staff person to become knowledgeable about our needs and be able to challenge other counties and fight for us.”

30 Lives Lost in Decade

Two people were killed and a third critically injured early Saturday in a head-on collision on Laguna Canyon Road. County officials estimate that the road (California 133) has claimed at least 30 lives in the last decade.

According to the California Highway Patrol, there were 87 accidents with 95 people injured and four killed on Ortega Highway (California 74) in Orange County during 1984 alone.

However, Caltrans Regional Director Heinz Heckeroth insisted Monday that his staff plays no “favorites” on any projects and said a separate Caltrans office in the county “is not needed.”

Riley has been arguing for the last two weeks with Caltrans officials over delays in both widening projects and the extension of the 55 Freeway between 19th and Bristol streets in Costa Mesa.

The projects are among dozens on a statewide list that are to be delayed for one or two years because of state fund shortages, design changes or lack of sufficient progress on earlier stages.

Inadequate Allocations

Caltrans officials told OCTC board members Monday that the 55 Freeway extension is being delayed until the 1988-89 fiscal year because of inadequate allocations of federal highway money.

They said the Laguna Canyon Road project is being delayed until the 1987-88 fiscal year because of increased costs, relocation of utility lines, additional earth moving and a needed flood-plain-impact analysis to supplement other environmental documentation, and because Laguna Beach officials have asked for possible changes in the road alignment.

The Ortega Highway project, they added, had been on an overly optimistic schedule to begin with and needs more preparatory work.

But while Riley praised Caltrans for its cooperation on one hand, he bristled at the explanations offered for the delays.

“Anybody who rides on the 55 (Freeway) today to make an appointment either has to be very naive or isn’t all there,” Riley said.

“We have fought long and hard for our current funding commitments. I just have difficulty standing by, to watch these commitments slip away. It appears to me . . . that Orange County projects in Sacramento are not considered a very high priority. And with the continuing shortfall in state highway funds, highway projects could face even more delays.”

Century Freeway Under Way

Riley said he was specifically concerned that the Caltrans regional office was devoting most of its attention to the $1.7-billion Century Freeway, which now is under construction between Los Angeles International Airport and the 605 Freeway in Norwalk. The 17-mile route is scheduled for completion in 1992.

“In order to keep (Orange County) projects on a schedule and delivered in a timely fashion, I now believe that a separate district office . . . is necessary,” Riley said.

Based on Riley’s request, OCTC board members voted unanimously to have their own staff study Riley’s proposal.

But Supervisor Bruce Nestande--who also is chairman of the California Transportation Commission, which oversees Caltrans--said he disagrees with the proposal.

“I don’t think you can prove the allegation he (Riley) made about the Caltrans staff in L.A. being preoccupied,” Nestande said, adding, “This is a time of fiscal crisis. The money just isn’t there. If it was, it would go for a highway project, not a new office.”

Riley said Heckeroth, director of the Caltrans region that includes Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties, has done a “fine job” and has been responsive to county officials, especially after “each death” on Ortega Highway.

Too Many Projects

But, Riley added, there are simply too many projects based out of Caltrans’s Los Angeles office for the staff to give each one adequate attention.

Said Heckeroth in an interview following the OCTC meeting: “Every project is treated equally. If a project is programmed, we’ll do our darndest to get the project out on schedule. But you don’t work on a wish list.”

Some financing problems, Heckeroth said Monday, involve state regulations.

Counties are legally entitled to receive projects worth at least 70% of the revenue the county residents provide to the state through the gasoline tax and other transportation-related levies. But in times of fund shortfalls, Heckeroth said, Caltrans must divert money to projects in counties that have not yet received their 70% guaranteed return.

Orange and Los Angeles counties have met or exceeded the 70% minimum-return level of funds provided, according to Heckeroth.

Separate District Called Moot

Orange County was once part of a state transportation financing district that included Los Angeles and Ventura counties. After years of bitter complaints that Orange County was being shortchanged, legislation was passed to create a separate district for Orange County that did not require a separate Caltrans office.

Later the Legislature decided that highway projects should be financed county by county instead of by districts and set the minimum requirement of a 70% return of money for each county.

“That made the issue of a separate transportation district for Orange County a moot point,” Heckeroth said. “Each county is treated the same way.”

Heckeroth said he has “no idea” how much a new Caltrans office in Orange County would cost.

No such office would be established until the Caltrans administration in Sacramento reviewed the issue, followed by consideration at the California Transportation Commission and even the governor’s office, officials said.