ROADS IN SORRY STATE; STUDY: ROUGH HIGHWAYS DAMAGING CARS.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services

California's urban highways are a mess, pockmarked with spine-jarring potholes and cracks that cost the state's motorists $1.2 billion a year in vehicle damage, said a study released Thursday.

But money that should be spent fixing damaged pavement instead goes to build new highways in areas where far fewer people live or on projects with little merit, said the Surface Transportation Policy Project, a coalition of 175 local and national organizations interested in transportation policy.

In Los Angeles, drivers spend more on car repairs than drivers anywhere in the country except Detroit due to badly maintained roads and freeways, the group said.

The nationwide study was released in San Francisco and at a news conference at the Wynyate estate, a historic South Pasadena house that would overlook the proposed 710 Freeway extension.

``We urge Caltrans to fix it first,'' said Gloria Ohland, the group's Southern California project manager.

Added James Corless, program director for the project's Northern California office: ``The bottom line is, roads are in bad shape and motorists are paying astronomical amounts of money to fix their cars. In some cases, motorists are spending more on repairs than the state is spending to fix the roads.''

Caltrans officials said the department has dramatically stepped up spending on road repairs.

``The bottom line is that we are in the midst of and are continuing an ambitious program to address the infrastructure needs of the state,'' said state Department of Transportation spokesman Jim Drago.

``Over the next six years, we will spend more than $12 billion on a combination of maintenance of existing pavement and new construction.''

The transportation lobbying group's report said California spent $809 million on repairing urban highways in 1996-97. Though that is more than other states spend, California also has far more drivers than other states do, driving more miles on roads in bad condition than anywhere else in the country, the report said.

The L.A. area ranks second in the nation in terms of repair costs per car due to bad roads, according to the study. Drivers spend about $1,325 over the life of a car on repairs caused by potholes and other road problems.

The study included only freeways and major arterial roads.

In the San Fernando Valley, the basic findings of the report reflected the experience of many mechanics who said the region's streets, in a constant state of breakdown and repair, take their toll on autos.

Later-model cars' front strut suspension can be knocked out of alignment by potholes or by steel plates that transportation agencies place over road repairs, said Steve Fasoline, a partner in Westside Automotive, Canoga Park.

On older cars, front steering and shock absorbers can wear down gradually, he said.

``We're seeing more and more people coming in saying that they hit something on the road or went through road construction, and now their car pulls one way or another,'' Fasoline said. ``That usually creates an alignment problem and it also damages tires.''

Small, lightweight Japanese and American cars are more susceptible to damage than larger trucks or sport-utility vehicles, he said.

Repair costs can start at $58 for an alignment, and reach as high as $600 to $800 for front and rear struts, he said.

Jerry Hakopian, manager of Haskell's Auto Body and Paint in Chatsworth, said debris from poorly maintained roads can wreak havoc.

``People come in with suspension damage and body damage, and parts flying on the freeway, like old tires, cause substantial damage to the parts underneath the car like wiring,'' he said.

Filling up his BMW at an Arco station in Woodland Hills, Jesse Patterson, 38, said the hazards of driving on Los Angeles roads include ``wear and tear to wheel alignments and knocking tires out of balance,'' as well as the inconvenience of negotiating traffic in areas of poorly planned repairs.

A commuter from Woodland Hills to a job in Glendale, Patterson expressed particular vexation at the condition of arterials like Victory and Vanowen boulevards and Sherman Way east of Laurel Canyon.

``All the streets are bumpy, cracky, with potholes,'' he said.

According to the study, California roads are far from the worst in the nation; that honor goes to Oregon, where the report says 92 percent of urban and suburban highway are in ``less than good'' condition.

In fact, California ranks 22nd on the report's ``pothole index,'' a measure of how much of its federal flexible highway funds a state spends on repairing existing pavement. The report says 13 percent of the state's urban roads are in poor or mediocre condition.

However, California is second, trailing only Rhode Island, in the average cost per car in urban areas for damage, wear and tear and reduced fuel mileage directly tied to bad roads. The report puts that figure at $857 over the life of each car.

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Map: Ranking road repairs

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