Much of the Economic Cure Lies in Region’s Own Hands : Federal aid is needed and welcome, but it’s only part of the answer

Although spring this year may coincide with a thawing of the economic deep-freeze in some parts of the country, California is still shivering through a bleak economic winter. Concerns on Capitol Hill about wasteful pork-barrel spending aside, California needs an infusion of federal dollars to energize the state’s stalled economy.

But Californians need not just sit on their hands, awaiting action by Congress. As we have said in this space over the last seven weeks, there is much that this state and region can do on their own or with minimal assistance from the federal government. Federal funds are indispensable to a number of infrastructure improvements that could help revive our once-booming economy. But federal spending alone will not provide deliverance. A number of new as well as ongoing state and local initiatives would help fill in the gaps in our regional infrastructure. And new projects aren’t the only answer; some promising ventures are much in need of continuing political support.

Additional federal, state and local funds would pay for long-overdue improvement in the Alameda Corridor rail line, a vital link in the movement of goods and services into and out of California through the Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors.

One of the few true economic bright spots in Southern California, these ports together handle more cargo than any other in the United States. But cargo that moves with state-of-the-art efficiency while at the port slows to a crawl once it hits land. An improved rail line to downtown Los Angeles, consolidating several slow tracks into a grade-separated corridor, is a priority if the ports are to remain competitive with others along the Pacific Coast.

The freeway-building era is pretty much past for this region. Southern Californians belatedly are becoming converts in recognizing the benefits of a comprehensive mass transit network--witness the enthusiasm that greeted the opening of the Red Line subway and Blue Line trolley. But Southern California’s tardiness in embracing mass transit means we still have far to go.

The most important projects are those that attract new rail and bus riders and prompt more commuters to car-pool, as well as those that improve existing services. Four priorities: accelerated construction of car-pool lanes on local freeways; construction of child care facilities at two San Fernando Valley Metrolink stations to encourage the use of buses and car pools; more express bus routes; improvements to the Union Station commuter hub.

The long drought has taught us that abundant new water supplies for Southern California will not be forthcoming. The challenge now is to better manage the water we have through more conservation and reclamation.

New attention to two resources could help. The Metropolitan Water District proposes to clean up a polluted San Gabriel aquifer in exchange for use of the basin as a natural water storage facility. And farsighted planning could help transform the Los Angeles River, now a 50-mile-long concrete channel that carries valuable rainwater to the sea, into a resource for ground-water storage, reclamation and open space.

New schools and fledgling industries are not always considered “legitimate” targets for infrastructure spending. But this region very much needs money for both.

Support is deserved for legislative proposals to facilitate state and local spending to build new schools and renovate older ones, along with efforts to commercialize promising new technologies.

Los Angeles voters have already approved funds for overdue earthquake and fire safety improvements, an upgraded 911 emergency response system and renovations to libraries and police stations. The challenge here is for city leaders to keep the pressure on to speed and streamline project planning and construction.

Californians have taken important first steps toward a 21st-Century infrastructure. The next test is whether we can keep the faith.