Bolstered by permits for a $270-million private toll road — Highway 125 east of Chula Vista — in August and a $51.5-million state highway project in October, heavy construction was up 17.4 percent in the first 10 months of the year over the same time in 2002. In fact, the road and bridge sector was up 69.8 percent over the previous year, according to a recent report from the Construction Industry Research Board (CIRB).

According to Jim Ryan, executive director of the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of San Diego, $68 million in Caltrans projects were slated to be let out for bid in January. Included is a managed lane project on Interstate 15.

"Although the first part of the year looks good for highway work, the state budget crisis has created quite a bit of uncertainty for the rest of the year," Ryan said. Other heavy construction fell 10.5 percent from the first 10 months of 2002, even with a permit taken out for an $81.4-million water treatment plant.

Overall, the public building sector was down 7.5 percent for the first 10 months of 2003. This category counts schools, community colleges and other government buildings. Ryan says that the pace of school construction is slowing, mostly because a $1.5-billion local school bond measure is nearly spent down. Ryan notes that community college building programs, as well as some additional school bond measures on the March ballot, will help propel school construction later this year.

Ryan says 2004 and beyond is looking up in the public building sector. The city of San Diego is embarking on a building program for new libraries, fire and police stations, and lifeguard stations. Private nonresidential building was down just 2 percent, keeping fairly even with the first 10 months of the previous year. Industrial structures, mercantile stores and recreation facilities led the sector, while office buildings, parking garages, hotels, and motels showed declines.

2003 saw many large projects throughout the entire county, not just in the city of San Diego. Permits were let for an $11.1-million medical building in San Marcos, a $10.0-million industrial development in Vista and a $13.3-million office development on Solana Beach. In the city proper, the largest projects were a $15.5-million industrial (bio-tech) building, a $14.2-million private school, a $10.3-million industrial building (R&D), a $14.8-million office building, a $9.1-million hotel, a $13.0-million parking garage, and an $8.7-million office building.

Hospital construction took off at the beginning of 2003 when UC San Diego broke ground on a $68-million cancer center. Spurred by a state mandate for seismic safety, nearly all San Diego-area hospitals will be undergoing some retrofitting and/or reconstruction to meet life-safety standards by 2008, or the 2013 extension that many facilities were granted. San Diego hospitals will spend more than a billion dollars by the deadline to meet new requirements for acute care facilities.

Residential construction is booming in the multi-family market. While permits for single-family units are down nearly 7 percent, multi-family permits jumped 53 percent, bringing overall residential construction to an 11.7-percent increase over the first 10 months of 2003. Ryan estimates more than $300 million worth of downtown condominium projects started in 2003. While these are residential buildings, the structures are high-rise commercial-type structures, he said.

The greatest area for concern in 2004 is highway construction. Cutbacks in the state budget, and uncertainty about federal reauthorization for highway funding, could seriously affect the area. Brad Barnum, government relations director of AGC of San Diego, said the region is looking for other funding sources to meet the transportation needs of a very large population that continues to grow.

"A secure funding source is essential," Barnum said. County voters will decide the fate of an expiring half-cent local option sales tax for transportation. Called "Transnet," the measure will be on the November ballot. It is projected to raise $9 billion over a 30-year life.

"Transnet must pass in order to help relieve the traffic congestion that is crippling the region and threatening our quality of life," Barnum emphasized.