Timely Public Works Projects

* It was hard to ignore the irony of your lead editorial, Jan. 28, “Government: When It Works Well and When It Doesn’t.” The Times was critical of an apparent lack of urgency in the city’s public works construction and modernization programs which, you opined, may have left us more vulnerable than necessary to the impact of the Jan. 17 earthquake.

On the other hand on Nov. 16 and 17, exactly two months prior to the Northridge quake, The Times published a series of articles criticizing the Rail Construction Corp.’s management of the Metro Rail subway construction for, among other things, being in too much of a rush to complete the project at the earliest possible date. The Times questioned the decision to use expedited competitive contracting methods to complete the Metrolink terminal at Union Station many months sooner than would otherwise have been possible. The story implied that RCC’s “high urgency” management approach might have resulted in increased project costs.

While those of us who have spent our careers managing large construction projects would argue that our successful early completion efforts, in fact, saved millions of dollars, in the harsh reality of late January, 1994, marginal cost differences hardly seem worth discussing. Today it would be difficult to put a price tag on the value of the operating Metrolink system and Metro Red Line for the tens of thousands of commuters who are relying on these newly completed facilities or for the millions who have indirectly benefited from the safe and reliable transportation services which they are providing in this time of crisis.

We can’t have it both ways. Either we are going to get behind the efforts of those dedicated professionals who are building our future with a sense of urgency and commitment that is not government business-as-usual; or we can second-guess and criticize their every action until the typical government overreaction concocts a cure that is far worse than the purported ailment, and our mass transit program becomes mired in layer upon layer of bureaucratic oversight and review and is run by people whose primary objective is to not make a mistake, rather than by people who have the courage to act and are mission-focused and results-oriented.

ROBERT E. KRUSE, Chairman

Rail Construction Corp.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Los Angeles