It’s Separation Fever Again

If at first you don’t secede, try, try, again. That seems to be the philosophy of Orange County officials who once again want out of the Caltrans District 7 covering Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties and the creation of a separate Caltrans office of their own in Orange County.

Every so often Orange County officials get upset with the California Department of Transportation over how much money is allocated for county projects, the delay in completing scheduled projects, or both. That’s when the “let’s have an office of our own” fever breaks out.

In 1979 the county made a similar request because it didn’t think that it was getting its fair share of state highway funds. It didn’t get a district all its own, but it did manage to be placed in a separate district for project-funding consideration.

The call for Orange County independence is being raised again because 10 of the 20 state highway projects in the county have fallen behind schedule, including an estimated one-year delay in the widening of the Santa Ana Freeway and a seven-month delay in the widening of the San Diego Freeway.

Caltrans blames the delays primarily on “manpower constraints,” and denies that District 7 is Los Angeles-oriented. If that’s truly the case, and there is no reason to believe otherwise, breaking up the division and incurring additional operating expenses for a separate Orange County office wouldn’t speed up projects or add engineers to Caltrans staffing. It would only put further constraints on an already inadequate budget.

Besides, Caltrans has already decided to move some personnel into a temporary Orange County office in March to oversee the Santa Ana Freeway widening project. That’s hardly ignoring Orange County.

Nevertheless, the Orange County Transportation Commission has ordered a staff study on the feasibility of having a separate Caltrans office in the county. And county Supervisor Bruce Nestande, had said that he would seek state legislation for a separate Orange County district because of the project delays and “too much of a Los Angeles orientation.” Nestande, who also sits on the state Transportation Commission, resigned Wednesday as a member of the county Board of Supervisors, but state Sen. John Seymour (R-Anaheim) had agreed to introduce such a bill when he receives the formal request from county officials.

The county’s consternation with freeway improvement delays is understandable. Other projects elsewhere are behind schedule, too. But delays alone are no reason to just pull Orange County out of the state network and give it a district all its own. There are other alternatives that should be considered. One is the plan being pushed by state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach), who wants Caltrans to contract out more work to private industry.

Another approach would be to review the makeup of all Caltrans districts in the state. Maybe Orange County should have its own district. Maybe it should be in a district with San Diego or Riverside. Or maybe it is best situated right where it is. The answer should come from a reasoned look at the statewide makeup, rather than a knee-jerk reaction to one county’s pique over some project delays.