791; COUNTY HAS MILES TO GO IN ROAD REPAIRS.Byline: David R. Baker Daily News Staff Writer More than 40 percent of the roads maintained by Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County require immediate or near-future repair, but there isn't enough money to do the job, sponsors of a new study said Tuesday. Statewide, funding for road repair or expansion continues to lag about $3.9 billion behind the need, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the survey by the nonprofit A corporation or an association that conducts business for the benefit of the general public without shareholders and without a profit motive. Nonprofits are also called not-for-profit corporations. Nonprofit corporations are created according to state law. group Transportation California. Los Angeles County alone has $117.1 million in unfunded road projects. It has 791 miles of roads in need of resurfacing, but no funds to repair 691 of those miles. Other counties, especially rural areas with lower tax revenues, have even larger backlogs of needed projects. The result: increasing congestion The condition of a network when there is not enough bandwidth to support the current traffic load. congestion - When the offered load of a data communication path exceeds the capacity. and roads that can damage your car. ``We have this big investment, and it's deteriorating,'' said Lawrence Fisher of Transportation California, which represents unions and construction companies that work on the state's 170,000-mile road network. ``Every year we get farther behind, because we can't keep up.'' The survey polled county public works public works pl.n. Construction projects, such as highways or dams, financed by public funds and constructed by a government for the benefit or use of the general public. Noun 1. officials statewide about the condition of their roads. The report covers roads and freeways maintained by the counties and the state, but does not include city streets. Fisher blames the funding shortfall on a wide range of culprits, including the early-1990s recession and, yes, El Nino. The recession cut gas and truck-weight tax revenues by an estimated $290 million from 1990 to 1997 and led state officials to siphon siphon (sī`fən, –fŏn), tube through which a liquid is lifted over an elevation by the pressure of the atmosphere and is then emptied at a lower level. about $1.2 billion out of California's transportation funds to spend on other programs, according to the report. El Nino's pounding rains caused an estimated $535 million in damage to state and county roads, making an already long list of needed repairs much longer. ``Certainly, when you get that amount of rainfall, everyone can see the potholes and cracking that occurred,'' said civil engineer Bill Winter of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works (LACDPW) is responsible for the construction and operation of Los Angeles County's roads, building safety, sewerage, and flood control. . ``It just exacerbates the whole problem.'' State officials said Tuesday that they are aware of the need for more repairs and already have started allocating more funds. State legislators recently approved two road-work spending programs, one worth $7.7 billion over six years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time other providing $3.3 billion over four years, said Jim Drago of the California Department of Transportation The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is a government agency in the U.S. state of California. Its mission is to improve mobility across the state. It manages the state highway system and is actively involved with public transportation systems in California. . A new federal law will give the state an extra $754 million per year for transportation projects. ``They're attacking the program on two fronts,'' Drago said. ``They're building new facilities, and at the same time they're making an investment in existing facilities.'' Fisher said much of the increased funding will go to new construction, and while he applauds that step, he maintains that the state still needs to place more emphasis on preserving the network of local roads. ``The immediate priority has got to be getting some help to the people at the local level,'' he said. ``We need to help them save this local road system, because it is in danger.'' The Transportation California report also found: Ventura County has about 174 miles of road in need of resurfacing, but funds to pay for just 13 of those miles. Driving on deteriorating roads forces Californians to spend an estimated $2.9 billion annually on extra car maintenance. New construction to ease congestion also is falling behind. Travel on urban highways increased 34 percent between 1986 and 1996, while lane mileage on those roads grew by only 3.4 percent. About 30 percent of bridges throughout the state are in substandard substandard, adj below an acceptable level of performance. condition. 2,755 Miles of paved pave tr.v. paved, pav·ing, paves 1. To cover with a pavement. 2. To cover uniformly, as if with pavement. 3. To be or compose the pavement of. road maintained by county 42 Percent in poor or fair condition 791 Miles in need of resurfacing 100 Miles of resurfacing funded |
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