It states that a contractor whose work goes over schedule “will” be fined. The rules call for penalties to be assessed is black-and-white. The penalties are designed to keep road closures from affecting rush-hour traffic. Though a Caltrans spokesman offered two reasons why the fine wouldn’t be levied, Caltrans’ actions have contradicted both.īy failing to enforce its own regulation over the last four years, records show that the local office of Caltrans, the state transportation agency, has foregone more than $1.2 million in fines it was supposed to levy.Ĭaltrans includes late-opening penalties in its regulations to ensure that road closures don’t inconvenience the traveling public and to motivate contractors to have contingency plans and reopen roads on time.
Even the two companies that were penalized aren’t always.Ĭaltrans’ local office appears to be selectively enforcing the penalties, levying them in some instances but not others.
It has fined two companies, but not nine others - despite instructions from Caltrans’ Sacramento headquarters to always collect fines if work runs late. Caltrans’ San Diego office has repeatedly given that break to Peterson-Chase and other contractors who don’t open roads on time. For every 10-minute increment they’re late, contractors are to be fined as much as $17,000 per increment.īut Peterson-Chase was not fined for the late opening. Caltrans includes provisions in its contracts with construction companies that promise to fine contractors if work crews open roads late. That should have brought the company, Peterson-Chase, a fine of more than $85,000. And the road didn’t reopen until 2:25 p.m. So work started an hour late on the project near Grossmont Boulevard. The road needed to be reopened by 12:30 p.m.īut, according to Caltrans records, the crew’s concrete truck ran behind schedule. Workers were allowed to close the lane at 10:01 a.m. Caltrans designates specific times for construction to happen. The median barrier needed work.Ĭonstruction workers from the company got a late start. 23, 2009 | On a warm June day in 2007, a construction crew hired by Caltrans closed a southbound lane of Highway 125 in La Mesa to pour concrete.
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