BILL ANALYSIS Ó ACR 130 Page 1 Date of Hearing: March 14, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION Jim Frazier, Chair ACR 130 (Gomez) - As Amended March 10, 2016 SUBJECT: Caltrans District 7 Fallen Worker Memorial Interchange SUMMARY: Designates the interchange at State Route (SR) 2 and Interstate 5 (I-5) in Los Angeles County, as the Caltrans District 7 Fallen Workers Memorial Interchange. Specifically, this resolution: 1)Recounts the inherent dangers of performing highway work, describes a number of California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) workers who have lost their lives on the job, and outlines efforts taken on behalf of Caltrans to reduce the number of highway worker-related fatalities. 2)Designates the interchange at SR 2 and I-5 in Los Angeles County, as the Caltrans District 7 Fallen Workers Memorial Interchange. 3)Requests that Caltrans determine the cost of appropriate signs, consistent with the signing requirements for the state highway system, showing the special designation and, upon receiving donations from non-state sources covering that cost, to erect those signs. ACR 130 Page 2 EXISTING LAW: Assigns Caltrans the responsibility of operating and maintaining state highways including the installation and maintenance of highway signs. FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown, but the measure requests that Caltrans only erect the appropriate signage upon receiving donations from non-state sources covering the cost. COMMENTS: According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the United States Department of Labor, the risk of death is seven times higher for highway workers than for average workers. Unfortunately, this is evident in the number of injuries and fatalities reported by Caltrans for highway worker-related incidents. For example, Caltrans reports that there have been a total of 183 Caltrans workers killed on the job since 1921 and of this total, 31 fatalities have occurred in the Caltrans District 7 region in Los Angeles alone. To help raise awareness, Caltrans has adopted numerous campaigns to get motorists to be on alert for highway workers and to slow down. Along with statewide efforts, Caltrans District 7 has worked diligently to eliminate worker fatalities through training, safe practices, and implementing features to lessen the exposure of highway workers on state highways. Due, in part, to these efforts, there have been no fatalities in Caltrans District 7 since 2000. This resolution designating the SR 2 and I-5 Interchange in Los Angeles County, as the Caltrans District 7 Fallen Workers Memorial Interchange serves a dual purpose. First and foremost, it memorializes the 31 men and women who died while performing their duties as transportation professionals in Caltrans District 7 and it also serves to commemorate the lifesaving ACR 130 Page 3 safety improvements implemented by Caltrans in the Los Angeles region. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION: Support American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO Opposition None on file Analysis Prepared by:Victoria Alvarez / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093 ACR 130 Page 4