ROAD TO FINISH STILL BUMPY ORANGE LINE PAVEMENT REPLACED.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer

With the opening of the $330 million Orange Line still months away, the MTA has had to replace sections of pavement along the 14-mile route because the asphalt is already cracking, officials said.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials say they don't expect the problem to delay further the October debut of the busway, which was stalled last winter by bad weather and legal disputes.

``Projects like this run into these kinds of problems,'' said Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, an MTA board member who has championed the Orange Line through his district. ``You've got to fix them and move on.

``My main concern is the project will not be slowed. Obviously, it's a concern why this has happened. Those who are responsible will be held accountable.''

Crews first noticed the cracks in May on the west end of the buses-only transit route, which stretches from North Hollywood to Warner Center along a former rail line.

Officials suspect the cracks occurred because the contractor was forced to halt the partially completed paving job by the winter's near-record rainfall, but continued driving heavy machinery over the first layers.

MTA said the problem is not a question of safety - the pavement will still be able to handle the 30-ton weight of the 60-foot-long buses - but durability as the asphalt is supposed to last 20 years.

``We want to make sure we get the whole 20 years out of it,'' said MTA's construction chief Rick Thorpe. ``We're going to make sure we have the 20-year life we paid for.''

MTA's initial testing raised questions about whether the asphalt met specifics of the plan. The agency has hired a pavement expert for $25,000 to test for additional problems.

The worst-case scenario is that portions of the busway would have to get an overlay of asphalt or that the MTA would accept the asphalt as is, then seek a reduction in what it pays for the job.

More likely, MTA said, is that, if other isolated areas show problems, they would also be replaced.

``What the requirement is is not in dispute,'' said MTA's project manager Roger Dames. ``The only question would be, is that what we're getting in the real world.

``Right now, we haven't found a pattern or an explanation that would indicate something was consistently done wrong throughout the length. We wanted to be diligent in making sure we're getting the quality we're paying for.''

The Orange Line is more than 80 percent complete, and crews are working on stations and park-and-ride lots. Bus drivers are expected to start practicing along the route in August.

Lisa Mascaro, [phone]

lisa.mascaro(at)dailynews.com