California’s Many Clogged Arteries : Proposition 111 would help clean up traffic congestion in our communities.

Pity the morning commuter grinding his teeth at one of those cursed stretches where the Antelope Valley Freeway narrows from three lanes to two. And then he hears on the radio that the valley’s population may soar from 150,000 now to half a million in 20 years. Gridlock hell. Only yesterday, it seems, Palmdale and Lancaster were hinterlands for a few aerospace workers and desert rats.

But suddenly there is hope for the harassed freeway crawler. If California voters approve Proposition 111 on the June 5 primary ballot, the state will have for the first time a comprehensive program for managing and even reducing congestion. At the least, the program should absorb growth without allowing traffic to deteriorate. But if local governments carry out the planning process as they should, Proposition 111’s landmark congestion-management element should lead to a smoother flow of cars and trucks on many streets and highways.

The focus so far has been on the proposed doubling of the gasoline tax, raising $18.5 billion and getting the state’s highway construction program rolling again. But Proposition 111 would do more. The unique congestion-management program would link transportation for the first time with land-use planning and environmental protection.

Passage of the ballot measure would require local governments to develop their own congestion-management plans before they could qualify for any of the $3 billion in local assistance provided by Proposition 111. They could use the money for virtually any project as long as it reduced congestion, offset the traffic impact of new development and met air quality standards.

In the Antelope Valley, housing contractors and local government would have to mitigate the effects of dumping additional commuters onto the Antelope Valley Freeway headed for jobs in San Fernando or even downtown Los Angeles. This could be done through creation of park-and-ride lots, van pools, financing of public transit systems and the like. Also, local projects that reduce congestion from present base-line levels would get top priority for further billions under Proposition 111. And cities no longer could lure tax-rich developments while dumping traffic headaches off on their neighbors.

For decades, local government has been seeking greater flexibility from the state in the spending of transportation dollars. Proposition 111 would provide it.

Proposition 111 is not just another freeway program, but a sound strategy for giving California a truly comprehensive, workable transportation system.