We easily forget that modern construction still relies on the most basic materials: wood, steel, rock and sand. We forget that rock and sand -- known collectively as aggregate -- are the main ingredients for the asphalt and concrete we use every day to build schools, churches, roads, parks and police stations. We also forget that the cost of construction materials can sap our taxes.

Even things forgotten can have real effects. Our region is learning how real the scarcity of everyday materials such as rock and sand can be. While alarmists attempt to delay critical projects such as the proposed Liberty Quarry, our region is facing difficult choices about how to serve the public good with limited tax dollars.

Liberty Quarry opponents in Temecula, by trying to kill the project without any facts supporting their claims, have selfishly placed communities throughout Southwest Riverside County at risk.

Not having a local source of aggregate, such as Liberty Quarry, is hurting our quality of life. Increased construction costs have forced Murrieta to face the real choice between traffic reduction and public safety. The choice is not easy, nor is it easily avoided.

In less than one year, the projected construction cost of five local freeway improvement projects jumped by $40 million to a total of $125 million. At the same time the projected cost of expanding the city's police station to house a growing force jumped from $4 million to $10 million, a staggering increase of 150 percent.

The recent downturn in the housing market, which is affecting almost every city in Southern California, has starved Murrieta of taxes, developer fees and funds that could have paid the rising costs. Starved of growth dollars, the City Council was left with hard choices.

The council made its choice to proceed with four of five vital transportation projects, while delaying the police station expansion and the Los Alamos Road bridge over I-15. Despite this choice, taxpayers will still pay $40 million in bonds over the next 30 years to recover the cost. Two generations of Murrieta residents will pay for a lesson in construction costs.

Other cities are not immune from decreasing revenue and increasing costs. Temecula's taxpayers are likely to see more than $500,000 go to Murrieta to build a needed connection between the two cities.

Could we avoid such a costly lesson in the future? Yes, but it requires a regional commitment to take forward-looking action and provide local material sources. Liberty Quarry can solve aggregate needs, alleviating part of this regional dilemma. That is why I support moving ahead with Liberty Quarry, and oppose naysayer efforts to circumvent a thorough study of the project only to kill it.

Aggregate from Liberty Quarry will reduce travel distance between production site and project site. Travel distance is critical when you consider that aggregate can constitute 10 percent to 20 percent of a project's cost, and that the price of aggregate doubles every 30 miles traveled. In fact, local aggregate from Liberty Quarry will decrease cumulative truck travel on our roads and freeways, resulting in reduced harmful air emissions of 5.3 tons per day over the next 13 years.

Southwest Riverside County's sources of rock and sand are running dry. As sources run dry, we face higher construction costs, project delays, more truck traffic, great diesel emissions, increased freeway maintenance and a slower economy.

Now is the time to remember that we, as taxpayers, pay for parks, fire protection, police protection, schools and road improvements. As costs rise, we will either pay more in the taxes or see serious declines in public infrastructure. Unless we take action now to add new sources of construction materials, including rock and sand from Liberty Quarry, Murrieta will be known as the first of many cities in Southwest Riverside County to make a painful choice between traffic reduction and public safety.

Olden "O.B." Johnson is a commercial real estate broker in Murrieta.