Gridlock Could Put the Brakes on Empire Building

It’s hardly surprising that many see California as a Republic of Bananas -- “Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything.”

From the coast of Orange County to Ventura County and beyond, the slow-growth and no-growth movements have made their mark in recent years, leaving developers, home builders and entrepreneurs shaking their heads in anger and despair.

And then there’s the Inland Empire, where “grow” is viewed as anything but a four-letter word.

For more than a decade, this region -- an area larger than five New England states combined -- has welcomed newcomers and new businesses to its vast expanses. And, unlike other areas of Southern California, the Inland Empire wants to keep growing.

More than 54% of San Bernardino Country residents recently surveyed by local government pollsters said they supported the renewal of a ballot measure that would commit them to a half-cent sales tax for the next 30 years. The aim: to help raise $6.5 billion for road and freeway upgrades -- a ribbon of blacktop that would keep the people and commerce flowing in. Meanwhile, Riverside County voted last year to beef up its infrastructure spending.

A big reason the Inland Empire embraces growth, while other places shun it, is the way the region views itself. Perhaps there more than anywhere else in the five-county Los Angeles area, its civic identity is tied up in the global economy and the movement of goods to and from Asia and Latin America in particular.

“We are part of a foreign trade region,” declares Larry R. Sharp, who has run Arrowhead Credit Union in San Bernardino for 22 years.

A Distribution Center

It is a heritage that harks back to the late 1800s, when oranges first were shipped east on refrigerated railroad cars.

Today, rail yards in San Bernardino and Colton -- supported by scores of warehouses scattered throughout the Inland Empire -- are key to the distribution of products from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as well as the Los Angeles and Ontario airports.

But Sharp is keenly aware that this position in the supply pipeline can’t be taken for granted. Much of the cargo that now speeds to rail points near downtown L.A. winds up slowing down once it hits the clogged freeways leading to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe yard in San Bernardino and the Union Pacific facility in Colton.

“We need to invest in infrastructure, build the second stage of the Alameda Corridor,” Sharp says, referring to planned construction of grade crossings and other improvements that would speed trains and trucks eastward.

At the same time, enhanced infrastructure is needed to support the Inland Empire’s ever-burgeoning residential population.

Like the logistics companies that have come to take advantage of relatively cheap real estate, people also have flocked to the area to escape the sky-high housing prices found elsewhere around Los Angeles. Indeed, the number of folks living in the Inland Empire has shot up by 300,000 in the last three years to 3.5 million.

With this influx, however, have come massive headaches.

The traffic on freeways leading from San Bernardino and Riverside counties into Orange and Los Angeles has become such a deterrent, in fact, that residents say they would dig into their pockets to escape the gridlock.

A recent survey by the San Bernardino Associated Governments, which represents 24 cities and towns, asked commuters who travel the 91 Freeway into Orange County what reduction in annual income they would accept to “never see the 91 again.” More than 31% of the respondents said they would take a 15% pay cut. About 20% of those who travel the 10 and 60 freeways into Orange and Los Angeles counties would be willing to see a 10% hit to their incomes.

Attracting Employers

Over time, Sharp and others are optimistic that Inland Empire residents will stop commuting so much as more higher-end jobs are created closer to home. Already, biomedical companies are springing up near Loma Linda University and its medical center. I/O Software Inc. of Riverside also is expanding these days.

And yet the region’s most important sector remains logistics and warehousing. Mattel Inc., Kohl’s Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and many others recently have indicated that they would place distribution facilities in the Inland Empire, according to economist and industry tracker John Husing.

In the end, it can all be a recipe for success: a vital rail-and-truck hub seasoned with a healthy mix of high-tech businesses and services catering to a rapidly mushrooming population.

But as Sharp is fully aware, this vision can all come crashing down in a hurry if the infrastructure doesn’t keep pace. Unless improvements are made, Sharp says, voters sick of gridlock will take things into their own hands and “we could get a moratorium on building.”

The Inland Empire, then, would just be one more big Banana.

James Flanigan can be reached at jim.flanigan@latimes.com.