The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the subject of a new report by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office ( LAO) finds that in many departments, especially engineering and construction, it is measurably overstaffed and wasteful, which reduces the effectiveness of its infrastructure-building efforts.

By ALEJANDRA MOLINA

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

A tunnel connecting Orange and Riverside counties is possible, but expensive, according to an engineering study.

The Irvine-Corona Expressway Tunnels would be constructed beneath the Santa Ana Mountains in the Cleveland National Forest and would include highway and rail tunnels approximately 11.5 miles long.

In a draft outline circulated privately to Senate offices, Senate leaders proposed cutting the House Jobs Bill to show fiscal restraint. But highway funding, the one infrastructure program that overwhelmingly benefits all States and every Congressional district, was cut disproportionately with funding sliced nearly in half.