Public Works

A proposal by the Schwarzenegger administration to use $170 million in voter-approved bond money for projects benefiting two private railroads is drawing ire from Southern California officials who want the funds for road improvements and other projects.

It's a huge building, much bigger than the Pentagon and a whole lot less clunky. It's expected to handle more passengers than any other air terminal in the world. It was built fast. Beijing's new international air terminal, which opened today in time for the Summer Olympics surge, attracts and embodies superlatives. It also embodies the new China, a country racing headlong into the future fueled by an economy on fire.

The roar of cars and trucks drowned out conversation Saturday morning as a group walked toward the 210 Freeway ramp on North Lake Avenue in Pasadena. The sidewalk narrowed and the street widened. Along the way, tree roots had heaved the sidewalk upward. It was hardly a welcoming route to the Gold Line light rail station, built in the median of the 210, said Marsha Rood, a Pasadena resident.

The main drag in Hermosa Beach -- Pier Avenue -- is slated to undergo a major revamping under a controversial plan narrowly approved last week by the City Council. The $2-million improvement project, approved in a 3-2 vote and scheduled to begin as early as July, calls for wider sidewalks and reconfigured parking. But the plan faced criticism from some elected officials, who argued that it fell short by failing to include bike lanes which had been sought by some residents.

The skid row area of downtown Los Angeles is scheduled to receive 100 new pedestrian lights as part of an effort to make the neighborhood safer, officials said Monday. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other elected officials will appear in skid row today to discuss the $320,000 program, which is designed to reduce the number of sidewalk drug sales. The lights are part of the Safer City Initiative, which targets South Los Angeles, Hollywood, MacArthur Park, North Hills and skid row. Last year, the city's Bureau of Street Lighting increased the wattage of 249 street lights on skid row. -- David Zahniser

When it starts at 10,000 feet and slices through the mountains in the canyon that bears its name, the Cache la Poudre River is a shock of water in this dry land. But by the time it winds its way out to this laid-back college city of 120,000 people, most of its water has been grabbed by farmers and other cities that control the maze of canals and diversion dams that turn the river into a trickle.

After years of planning and funding delays, Ventura County transportation officials Thursday formally marked the opening of traffic lanes that expand the frequently congested California 23 from four to six lanes. Although the lanes have been in use for a month, the unveiling symbolically marked the final stretch of the $65-million highway improvement project for the 7 1/2 -mile leg that extends from Hillcrest Drive in Thousand Oaks north to the bridge near New Los Angeles Avenue in Moorpark.

The Senate voted Thursday to ask the Justice Department to investigate allegations of impropriety and possible criminal violations involving a $10-million Florida highway project slipped into a bill after Congress had approved it. The earmark, inserted two years ago into a five-year, $286-billion highway funding bill, was for a Coconut Road interchange project on Interstate 75 near Naples, Fla. But state and local officials never requested money for the interchange.

Inside Tom W. Bogard's office, maps are everywhere. They help the highway director for the Orange County Transportation Authority see the future -- or at least where the next caution signs for construction will be posted. Over the next five years, Bogard and his counterparts in neighboring counties will act as railroad yardmasters, coordinating projects to relieve congestion so they are spaced apart and done mostly at night, so commuters can avoid delays.

Piles of smelly, rotting trash dumped illegally in some of Los Angeles' poorest neighborhoods have been allowed to sit for weeks because dumping has increased: The number of complaints has doubled in the last year while sanitation staffing has remained stagnant, the city's top public works officials reported Monday.