PUBLIC WORKS GET SEEDIER.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer

California's roads, schools and wastewater systems are in urgent need of repairs - part of $1.6 trillion in infrastructure upgrades needed nationwide, according to a report released today.

The nation earned D-plus or worse in 10 of the 15 categories ranked by the American Society of Civil Engineers - an overall decline from grades issued four years ago.

The report also says American motorists spend $54 billion a year for auto repairs and related costs because of poor roads, and they lose 3.5 billion hours annually in productivity because they're stuck in traffic.

Los Angeles residents lose $1,668 a year per person on auto expenses and time spent in gridlock.

``This is a reflection of our lack of investment in infrastructure,'' said Assemblyman Keith Richman, R-Granada Hills, who spearheaded a failed ballot initiative in 2003 that would have raised money for such improvements.

``I think that it's critical that we make a commitment to invest in infrastructure. There needs to be a process put in place that results in regular investment in infrastructure.

``We simply cannot continue to defer our investment in needed infrastructure, whether it's roads or highways or mass-transit projects or water projects,'' he said.

The engineers released the report card, first in 2001, in hopes of turning a spotlight on sewers, water works, transportation and other infrastructure issues that they say often go unnoticed by the public. They said $1.6 trillion in spending is needed over five years.

``This is an area that really hasn't had much attention anyplace in the country, not just in California,'' said Harvey Gobas, past president of the association's Los Angeles section and a senior project manager at a multistate engineering firm, Psomas.

``Sometimes we tend to take the Band-Aid approach, the patch-and-pray approach, where you do a fix that will hopefully hold for a few months or a few years,'' he said.

``The whole reason for doing these report cards ... is to raise the awareness level of both the public and our elected officials who tend not to think about infrastructure.''

His group is preparing a Los Angeles County report for release later this year. A similar study conducted in 2003 determined that the county needed to make $4 billion annually in repairs over the next decade to catch up on a backlog.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works is routinely working to fix roads, water works and other infrastructure, spokesman Ken Pellman said.

``There are 10 million people living in Los Angeles County alone; that doesn't even include the (other) counties where people are driving in and out,'' he said.

``You have a tremendous number of people using this infrastructure,'' he said. ``If the county's going to continue to grow, these are issues that need to be addressed.''

Lagging infrastructure investment is well known in the city of Los Angeles, where Public Works Department officials estimate that $11 billion is needed to fulfill a 10-year plan for improvements, according to a city government Web site.

``Our infrastructure is rapidly decaying and needs repairs and more frequent maintenance,'' wrote a Web site author, saying nearly 200 miles of major sewers are in poor condition and half the streets and sidewalks need repairs.

Funding is a problem nationwide, notes the American Society of Civil Engineers report, with the federal government cutting money for public transit and failing to pass a new highway spending bill.

Schools continue to face overcrowding, despite support for school-construction bonds.

Aging wastewater systems discharge billions of gallons of untreated sewage nationwide into surface waters each year, but Congress has cut funding for wastewater management, the report states.

Gobas said the county's flood-control system is one bright spot for Los Angeles and proved its worth during the recent storms.

``We don't see any of the kinds of problems now that were evident in Southern California even 30, 40 years ago,'' he said. ``That's definitely an indicator our flood control system is in pretty good shape.''

Lisa Mascaro, [phone]

lisa.mascaro(at)dailynews.com

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INFRASTRUCTURE: A FAILING GRADE

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