O.C. Feels Shorted by Governor’s Transit Plan

Disappointed Orange County transportation officials got only a fraction of the funding they requested in the $5.2-billion statewide plan Gov. Gray Davis is scheduled to unveil today--but the limited money they may receive will help pay for carpool lanes, freeway widening, expanded train service and new buses.

Still the $242 million earmarked for the county came as a surprise to transportation planners for two reasons: Not only did they expect a much larger share, they said, but several projects not even on their request list got significant funding.

“On the one hand we are always happy when there is money from transportation projects,” said OCTA spokesman Bill Hodge. “But this points out the difficulty when we don’t do formula funding. We’re only looking at about 5% of the money out there, and Orange County usually gets at least 10%.”

The $5.2 billion is only part of the governor’s latest effort to solve the state’s transportation woes through $15 billion in spending over the next decade--which includes heavy borrowing and federal dollars for the bulk of the funds.

Davis begins touring the state today to tout the plan--which has the state earmarking $2.8 billion over four years and calls for a statewide vote on a $2.2-billion bond to finance other projects. The governor also is counting on the federal government and local officials to come up with the other $10 billion.

Several lawmakers have been critical of the plan, with Democrats and Republicans alike saying it offers too little, and some Republicans saying the state should not seek approval of a bond when California has record budget surpluses.

And in heavily Republican Orange County, where some grumbled about partisan politics from a Democratic administration, officials question why the third-most-populous county in the state came up short--with San Diego County getting more than $480 million and the Inland Empire about $235 million. Gov. Gray Davis’ spokeswoman defended the governor’s decisions, saying they consulted hundreds of officials and agencies across the state--not simply transportation authorities and commissions.

“Orange County got significant funding,” said Hilary McLean, the governor’s spokeswoman. “This is a significant step toward relieving traffic congestion in California. It’s not intended to solve all of the problems, but it is intended to go a long way toward speedier commutes, less traffic congestion and smoother roads and highways.”

The governor’s plan for future transportation needs in the state has been eagerly anticipated since the call went out in February for wish lists from local Caltrans offices throughout the state. With a projected multibillion-dollar budget surplus, Davis had said he planned to combat worsening congestion that had gone unchecked in lean budget years.

Orange County officials--who had scrambled to put together their list in less than three hours--had expressed hope that much of the $400 million they asked for would be granted. On Wednesday, local state lawmakers and transit planners said no one was in the mood to pop any champagne bottles.

“Am I happy with the [4.6%] that Orange County got? Absolutely not,” said Assemblyman Lou Correa (D-Anaheim). “We continue to pay more money in taxes than we get back from the state.”

Correa hasn’t spoken with the governor or his staff yet.

“We need to keep fighting to make sure that we get our fair share, and I’m going to continue to do that,” Correa said. “We need to bring some equity to this process.”

Particularly startling to OCTA officials was the $75 million set aside for a grade separation of train tracks through the Orangethorpe Corridor in northern Orange County, a project they didn’t even consider a priority. And they got only $50 million of the $250 million needed to widen the Garden Grove Freeway--the county’s top priority.

Of the nearly $400 million requested by the OCTA, only $109 million was funded. Additional money went to rail projects not on OCTA’s priority list and may have been submitted by local Caltrans officials to Sacramento.

Caltrans spokeswoman Rose Orem, who works in the Orange County district office, said her office sent Sacramento project requests from cities as well regional and local planning agencies.

The news was greeted enthusiastically by some, particularly Placentia Mayor Michael L. Maertzweiler, who called “fortuitous” the $75-million Orangethorpe project separating the rail lines from street traffic in Yorba Linda, Anaheim and Placentia.

“We’ve worked very hard trying to plan this project and think it is very much needed,” said Maertzweiler.

But the OCTA’s Hodge said there are more pressing issues in the county and said officials were puzzled by some of the funding choices made in the plan.

Several major projects were ignored or only partially funded:

* The $250-million widening of the heavily congested Garden Grove Freeway that would complete the county’s extensive carpool lane system. The top-priority project for the OCTA would get $50 million under the governor’s plan, but OCTA had asked for $200 million.

* A $20-million request for a connector to fix weaving problems at the interchange of the Orange and Garden Grove freeways received $10 million.

* About $50 million to separate train tracks from street-level traffic at Jeffrey Road in Irvine and Red Hill Avenue in Tustin was not funded.

* No funding was included for preliminary engineering for the CenterLine, the proposed 27-mile light rail system for Orange County. Transit officials asked for $12 million to $15 million, which would have gone for design work.

* No funds were allotted for a $10-million parking structure at the Irvine Transportation Center to deal with overflow parking.

Statewide, some lawmakers were underwhelmed by Davis’ plan. Senate President Pro Tem John Burton (D-San Francisco), who had floated a proposal that would have made it easier for local voters to approve tax hikes for transportation, called the $2.2-billion bond “chump change.”

“A lot of the projects have merit,” Burton said. “But the money proposed wouldn’t bring any of them to fruition.”

And with the state’s surplus possibly as much $10 billion for the next fiscal year, some wonder why borrowing is needed at all.

“I can’t say there is no room for bonds ever in addressing transportation needs,” said Scott Baugh of Huntington Beach, leader of the Assembly’s minority Republicans. “But I question the need for a bond when we’re swimming in surpluses.”

Additionally, Baugh criticized Davis’ plan for spending too heavily on rail lines and not enough on freeway expansion. He also noted that much of the freeway expansion is devoted to carpool lanes, which are used by a small percentage of commuters.

“You can build all the train systems in the world and the people of California are still going to use their automobiles,” Baugh said.

*

Times staff writers Meg James and Julie Tamaki contributed to this report.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

State Falls Short in O.C. Traffic Funding

Gov. Gray Davis’ transportation budget includes $242 million for Orange County improvement projects. The allocation was far short of the $400 million requested with numerous projects on the county’s wish list going unfunded.

$50 million: Add carpool lanes

$10 million: Improve connector

$20 million: Add carpool, mixed traffic lanes

$4 million: Buena Park Metrolink station

$25 million: Buy 50 natural gas buses

$75 million: Grade separations along rail line

$58 million: Double track route, add locomotives

$5 million: Riverside Fwy. connector to Corona Fwy., improve Green River Road interchange

NOT FUNDED:

$15 million: Light rail engineering studies

$50 million: Metrolink grade separations at Jeffrey Road, Red Hill Ave.

$10 million: Irvine Transportation Center parking structure

Source: Governor’s Office