Caltrans went through a difficult period of transformation during the 1970s, as its institutional focus shifted from highway construction to highway maintenance.Raymond Forsyth and Joseph Hagwood, One Hundred Years of Progress (Sacramento: California Transportation Foundation, 1996): 127. The agency was forced to contend with declining revenues, increasing construction and maintenance costs (especially the skyrocketing cost of maintaining the vast highway system built over the past three prior decades), widespread freeway revolts, and new environmental laws. In 1970, the enactment of the National Environmental Policy Act and the California Environmental Quality Act forced Caltrans to devote significant time, money, people, and other resources to confronting issues such as "air and water quality, hazardous waste, archaeology, historic preservation, and noise abatement." The devastating 1971 San Fernando earthquake compelled the agency to recognize that its existing design standards had not adequately accounted for earthquake stress and that numerous existing structures needed expensive seismic retrofitting.Raymond Forsyth and Joseph Hagwood, One Hundred Years of Progress (Sacramento: California Transportation Foundation, 1996): 129. Maintenance and construction costs grew at twice the inflation rate in this era of high inflation; the reluctance of one governor after another to raise fuel taxes in accordance with inflation meant that California ranked dead last in the United States in per-capita transportation spending by 1983. During the 1980s and 1990s, Caltrans concentrated on "the upgrading, rehabilitation, and maintenance of the existing system," plus occasional gap closure and realignment projects.
caltrans went through a difficult period of transformation during the 1970s as its institutional focus shifted from highway construction to highway maintenanceraymond forsyth and joseph hagwood one hundred years of progress (sacramento california transportation foundation 1996) 127 the agency was forced to contend with declining revenues increasing construction and maintenance costs (especially the skyrocketing cost of maintaining the vast highway system built over the past three prior decades) widespread freeway revolts and new environmental laws in 1970 the enactment of the national environmental policy act and the california environmental quality act forced caltrans to devote significant time money people and other resources to confronting issues such as "air and water quality hazardous waste archaeology historic preservation and noise abatement" the devastating 1971 san fernando earthquake compelled the agency to recognize that its existing design standards had not adequately accounted for earthquake stress and that numerous existing structures needed expensive seismic retrofittingraymond forsyth and joseph hagwood one hundred years of progress (sacramento california transportation foundation 1996) 129 maintenance and construction costs grew at twice the inflation rate in this era of high inflation; the reluctance of one governor after another to raise fuel taxes in accordance with inflation meant that california ranked dead last in the united states in per-capita transportation spending by 1983 during the 1980s and 1990s caltrans concentrated on "the upgrading rehabilitation and maintenance of the existing system" plus occasional gap closure and realignment projects