UCI revs up for months-long study

Deirdre Newman

UCI CAMPUS -- Will Orange County ever embrace light rail? Can it treat

urban runoff without a problem? Will there ever be friendly skies again?

These are some of the tough questions a group of the university’s

engineering professors, along with local colleagues, are tackling as they

undertake a new assessment of the county’s infrastructure. A meeting

Friday at UC Irvine officially kicked off the study.

Over the next few months, eight committees will grade areas

--including roads, airports and waste treatment systems -- before issuing

a report card in October.

The goal of the study is to inform residents of the deficiencies in

the county’s infrastructure, said Robert Bein, chairman of the group’s

executive committee. Bein said the network is in dire straits, a problem

he expects to be exacerbated by a population increase of 30% in the next

20 years.

“We believe the infrastructure situation has been neglected to the

point where we could have a breakdown in major areas like transportation

and water supply,” Bein said. “Unless we plan, we will have real

shortages, the quality of life will deteriorate, and business will not

locate here.”

The committees started coming together in January, and some of them

have already begun meeting. They will analyze data from county agencies,

which should enhance their credibility, Bein said.

The airports committee, for instance, will examine John Wayne,

Fullerton and Los Alamitos airports. Jan Mittermeier, the county’s former

chief executive, said while the airports’ report card looks shaky, it is

not strictly a regional issue.

“There has to be a national planning process to identify where

airports are needed,” Mittermeier said. “It has to come with a

carrot-and-stick approach to make sure that happens.”

The study will also draw on polls conducted earlier this year by the

Orange County Business Council that asked respondents what they would

like to see happen to the county’s infrastructure.

Many residents said infrastructure is their highest priority for the

future, but they will demand more accountability and better planning and

investments, said Stan Oftelie, the council’s president.

“Residents are willing to pay more money to support the

infrastructure, provided they think they will be getting their money’s

worth,” Oftelie said.

The ultimate goal is that once residents are aware of the

infrastructure needs, they will spark elected officials to take action.

“When the people get going, then the leaders get going, so we need to

get the people behind us,” Bein said. “Whether we’ll solve it with

general funds, existing tax funds or with bond issues, we don’t know that

yet.”