The centerpiece of Mayor James Hahn’s economic recovery task force fast-tracking public works projects valued at $1.2 billion is a lot easier proposed than done.

While fast-tracking was successful after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, there are numerous hurdles that would have to be overcome if the proposal ultimately receives the necessary approvals.

The list includes lack of land, staffing shortages, and the difficulty in coordinating different levels of government.

“There are lots of potential obstacles, but there is also a tremendous sense of urgency out there among local elected officials and business leaders that we think will keep the pressure up to overcome these,” said Lee Harrington, chief executive of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp.

The Economic Impact Task Force, appointed by Hahn in early October to develop proposals to mitigate the effect of the economic decline following the terrorist attacks, assembled a list of 43 so-called “ready-to-go” projects. They range from construction of a North Valley Police Station, to sewer line rehabilitation, to the Santa Monica Boulevard Transit Parkway. All have scheduled construction dates no later than next year.

But given the lack of a project database, and the limited time the task force had to do its work, that figure is deceptively large. It may be that they are not all “ready-to-go,” acknowledged Joy Chen, who served as project manager to the task force and was appointed by Hahn last week to lead the recovery effort.

Some of the projects may lack land, others may lack permits, while a few may have land and permits but no dedicated funding sources. “We will be separating them into categories and proceed with everything all lined up,” she said.

There’s also the issue of staffing, both within the city and outside. The county has found it difficult to even get its own public works projects completed at a regular pace due to a shortage of qualified civil engineers.

Moreover, Hahn has yet to appoint some key top officials, and has ordered a hiring freeze. That will force the existing staff bound to shrink by attrition to grapple with pushing the projects through.

“Many of these projects may not go through as quickly as people would like to see them, because the staff is not there to oversee them,” said Jonathan Lonner, editor of Metro Investment Report, a local publication that tracks infrastructure investment.

But at least in this case, the unions are not complaining.

“We are more than capable of doing this,” said Julie Butcher, general manager of Service Employees International Local No. 347, which represents 9,000 city workers. “We are in urgent times and in urgent times we need to take urgent action.”

After Northridge, the state stepped in and rebuilt freeway overpasses in a matter of months, just a fraction of the time it would ordinarily take. But James Moore, a USC associate professor of civil engineering and public policy, doesn’t believe a parallel can be drawn to current events.

“Northridge was a crisis and the response was phenomenal. For all intents and purposes, Caltrans and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation were operating as one agency,” he said. “That level of cooperation is difficult to sustain in the long run, and I don’t think the same level of crisis is perceived.”

Chen said one of her primary roles will be to ensure there is such coordination, but when a project looks like it might be stalling, to move to another one on the list.