Senator to Seek Audit of Caltrans Permits

ORANGE COUNTY — State Sen. Betty Karnette (D-Long Beach) announced plans Tuesday to request an audit of Caltrans’ troubled permitting office today after several recent accidents caused by the agency’s misrouting of trucks with oversized loads.

Karnette, head of the senate’s Transportation Committee, said she will ask the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to take a detailed look into the operations of the permitting office at a meeting scheduled for this morning.

The office that regulates permits for oversized trucks has come under harsh scrutiny since a Westminster man was killed in July when a Caltrans permit writer mistakenly routed a 15-foot-high truck load under a 14-foot, 10-inch bridge. The truck’s cargo struck and killed a Westminster man driving behind it.