Davis Proposing More Caltrans Permit Workers

Gov. Gray Davis has recommended the state spend nearly $1 million next year for Caltrans to hire 15 more workers to help route oversized trucks on California’s highways after a series of mistakes, including one that resulted in the death of a Westminster man last year.

An investigation into Caltrans’ permit-writing office revealed that harried workers made at least 33 errors in the last four years. In those instances, permit writers sent drivers of trucks with loads ranging from mobile homes to cranes hurtling into low bridges and overpasses.

The inquiry came after 36-year-old Tam Trong Tran of Westminster was crushed to death in a July accident. A 15-foot-tall big rig attempted to drive under a bridge over the Riverside Freeway in Anaheim that was two inches lower than the truck’s load. The big rig was taking a route that had been approved by a Caltrans worker who, despite the warnings of a computer program, failed to notice the discrepancy between the load and the height of the bridge.

Then, in October, a temporary bridge near Lompoc collapsed seconds after a heavy truck crossed over it. The truck weighed 89 tons, more than twice the bridge’s capacity. Unaware of weight and speed restrictions, Caltrans’ permit writers sent at least six overweight trucks over the structure in the two weeks it had been open.

On Friday, the chairwoman of the Senate Transportation Committee said she was pleased Davis earmarked $901,000 for the Caltrans permitting office, which currently has 34 workers.

“You’ve got to have good people and enough people to do the job,” said Sen. Betty Karnette (D-Long Beach). “The permitting process just had a hard time keeping up.”

Lawmakers must approve Davis’ request this spring as part of the annual budget-writing process. Transportation officials expect little opposition to the provision. A bipartisan legislative committee already agreed last week to spend $47,000 to audit Caltrans’ permit-writing operation.

Sandy Harrison, a spokesman for Davis’ finance office, said the money was included in the governor’s budget because Caltrans’ permit-writing office needs reinforcements.

“This has been a growing problem in recent years and there was a feeling that Caltrans needed additional funds and personnel,” Harrison said. “In our evaluation of the problem, it was felt the best thing that Caltrans could do is to increase the number of people they have to keep up with the workload.”

But Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana) said Caltrans needs more than extra permit writers. Its computer system is sorely out of date, lawmakers learned last fall.

“It’s good that we’re adding personnel, but we’ve concluded that the entire process, including the computerization, needs to be finalized,” Dunn said, adding that legislators should explore whether some money can be pumped into a new computer system.

Karnette agreed that computers should be a priority.

“There probably should be more money in there,” she said.

In August, Caltrans Director Jose Medina sent lawmakers a letter promising quick action to update the technology and database of the permit-writing office. On Friday, Caltrans spokesman Jim Drago said the agency has begun its evaluation of computer systems but still needs to bring a consultant on board to provide additional expertise. Previously, Caltrans has said it will take at least three years to transform the computer system.

“What we have to do is to develop a fully automotive system and that process is underway,” Drago said. “We’ve got to go through the process, and after all, nobody else in the country has a fully automated system.”

Still, a Times review last year of other states with high truck traffic found California lagged far behind similar operations, with at least five states already taking steps to protect the public with the most up-to-date technology, a comprehensive statewide database or stringent regulations that require the route be traveled beforehand to check the proper clearance.

California’s permit writers still cope with manual maps and a cobbled-together computer system that its creator estimates is only 60% complete.

Weeks after the fatal July accident, a San Bernardino-based permit writer filed a union grievance over work conditions at the office, raising further questions about the operation. At a Senate hearing in October, two permit writers testified that accidents were inevitable. They described an atmosphere of intense pressure to quickly approve permits without the necessary tools and a lack of communication with maintenance operations.

Lawmakers say the collapse of the bridge near Lompoc was a glaring example of a communication breakdown. Permit writers had never even been told that a temporary bridge, with weight and speed restrictions, had been installed on Route 246.

Since 1994, when 133,217 permits were issued in California, the demand for permits for oversized trucks has exploded, while staffing levels have inched up. While the demand for permits grew nearly 40% over the last six years, staffing in the office had increased by only 10%--until additional workers were hired last fall in the wake of the fatality in Anaheim.

Last year, Caltrans employees approved about 200,000 permits for trucks heavier, longer, taller and wider than legally allowed on state highways.