New Law Allows Caltrans to Hire Private Planners

Hoping to speed construction of new highways in California’s traffic-choked metropolitan areas, Gov. George Deukmejian announced Thursday that he has signed legislation giving Caltrans broad powers to hire private firms to plan and design freeway projects.

The bill, by Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) was backed strongly by Southern California builders eager for the quick construction of new freeways and the widening of aging thoroughfares in areas where voters angered by clogged roads are demanding constraints on growth.

“There is no question that this is the most important legislation that was needed for Caltrans to get things done,” said Bruce Nestande, a member of the California Transportation Commission and vice president of Arnel Development Co., an Orange County building firm. “This is going to change dramatically the method in which transportation work gets done in this state.”

State Engineers

Under current law, freeways are built by private construction companies but designed by engineers who are civil servants on the state payroll. Although existing law provides a way for the Department of Transportation to contract for private engineers, a cumbersome bureaucratic process and opposition from public employee labor unions has forced Caltrans to rely mainly on its own staff. Officials said it has taken as long as a year to gain state approval for some private contracts.

As a result, Caltrans officials say the department is unable to respond quickly when money becomes available for new highway projects, especially funds provided by local sales tax increases or by developers required to pay road-building fees for each house they build. The department is reluctant to hire permanent employees who might have to be laid off after such temporary bursts in the highway construction workload.

The bill Deukmejian signed Thursday, when it becomes law next Jan. 1, will allow Caltrans to contract with private engineers, architects, designers, planners and surveyors whenever the department decides that it lacks the staff to meet its freeway construction schedule.

Caltrans spokesman Gene Berthelson said the department expects to hire at least 700 engineers and others on contract during the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. He said the department will have about 400 such workers under contract during the current fiscal year.

“The difference is that this will accelerate by several months the time it takes to engage those contractors,” Berthelson said.

Although government employee labor unions unsuccessfully opposed the bill, they did succeed in winning several amendments to ensure that contracting for private engineers will not bump any civil servants off the state payroll.

The bill, for example, prohibits the displacement of any full-time or part-time Caltrans employee by a contract worker. It also requires Caltrans to hire one regular employee for every private engineer it retains as a consultant.