Union Roadblock
Sunday, August 15, 2010
The Press-Enterprise
The state engineers union should stop obstructing traffic on Highway 91. The union’s opposition to an expansion of that freeway is about self-protection, not public benefit. That interference needs to end; control of this project should remain firmly in local hands.
The Riverside County Transportation Commission plans to widen the 91 between the Orange County line and Interstate 15, along with other improvements. The $1.3 billion project would expand the 91 from five lanes each direction to seven, including two toll lanes. The additions would shorten average travel times along the congested freeway by as much as 30 minutes one way.
The project, however, has been opposed at every step by Professional Engineers in California Government, the union that represents Caltrans engineers. The union’s objections have little to do with the merits of the freeway expansion, and everything to do with protecting union turf.
The county transportation agency wants to use one contractor to design and build the project, a process known as design-build. Normally, public agencies contract separately for design work and construction. Local transportation officials say the design-build approach could hasten construction by three to five years, cutting overall costs while providing quicker relief to harried drivers.
That process lessens the need for the union’s engineers, however — which is the union’s real concern. So the union wants its members to play key roles in the 91 expansion, with duties that would include the power to make financial decisions.
But giving the state authority over the project would be irresponsible, given that it is funded almost entirely through local efforts. Only $2 million of the project’s $1.3 billion cost is slated to come from state funds; the rest will flow from local sales tax money and funds borrowed against future toll receipts. Local transportation officials, not state engineers unaccountable to local taxpayers, should oversee this project.
The union says that excluding state engineers could compromise the project’s safety, but that is merely a convenient smoke screen for a power grab. The local transportation agency is willing to let Caltrans engineers do safety inspections, but officials do not want those state workers controlling a local project.
Granted, the engineers have reasons to be looking for more work: The state’s legislative analyst reported in March that Caltrans’ construction design and management operations were overstaffed and unjustified by the department’s workload. The analyst suggested trimming 1,500 positions to save the state $200 million a year.
The state engineers union, however, has long fought any attempt to weaken its near-monopoly on highway construction oversight. The union waged a long and unsuccessful court battle against Prop. 35, the 2000 ballot measure that gave state and local government more power to hire private engineers to work on public projects.
Taxpayers’ interest, however, is in finding the most cost-efficient ways of building roads, highways and other infrastructure — whether that process involves the union’s engineers or not.
And local drivers’ big concern is easier travel on Highway 91. Motorists may not know which agency is behind the improvements, but they will understand who bears the blame if the project languishes because of union obstruction.
