County Must Pay for Roads

The Federal Emergency Management Agency probably won’t reimburse the county for the cost of repairing damage to roads, bridges and other infrastructure during the storms in December and January, the Department of Public Works said Tuesday.

“We’re not getting a warm, fuzzy feeling from FEMA,” Donald Wolfe, interim director of the department, told the Board of Supervisors. However, Wolfe said, the Federal Highway Administration has indicated it will kick in about $10 million.

Public Works says the cost of repairs would total about $45 million, including $36 million for roads and about $9 million in damage to the county’s flood-control and water-supply systems. “And those figures could go up,” said Ken Pellman, a spokesman for the department.

The storms, Wolfe said, caused “the most widespread damage the county road system has ever experienced.”

He said feedback from Washington indicates that one of FEMA’s criteria in considering reimbursement is the concentration of damage.

“Ours is pretty spread out,” Wolfe said. “We probably won’t get FEMA reimbursement.”

Wolfe said most of the county repairs would be paid from the department’s regular budget, which will mean delays in routine maintenance and planned improvements.

FEMA officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Thirty-nine county roads damaged by the storms were still subject to closures Tuesday, with 23 of them open only to emergency vehicles and local residents. Portions of Lake Hughes Road, Bouquet Canyon Road and San Francisquito Canyon Road remain completely blocked, and Wolfe said it could be weeks before they open.

Statewide, the cost of repairing storm-damaged roads has reached $85 million and continues to climb. For now, the money to fix state highways is expected to come from Caltrans’ existing budget. Caltrans officials say they have received preliminary word that the Highway Administration will help pay the bill.

State highways still in repairs in Southern California include California 33 north of Ojai, California 150 east of Santa Paula and California 39 in the San Gabriel Mountains above Azusa.

California 27 -- Topanga Canyon Boulevard -- reopened to two-way traffic during the morning and evening rush hours, but repair work continued to close at least one lane during off hours.

One of the most troublesome problems involves the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 near Santa Clarita, where rising ground water has caused a hill beside the freeway to move. Caltrans crews have drilled holes into the hill in an attempt to drain it before it moves again.

In Northern California, the big problem has been snow. Interstate 80, the only freeway across the Sierra, was closed for 39 hours, and U.S. 50 was shut down repeatedly because of the danger of avalanches.