Widening Interstate 5 is a dead-end

Re “10-Year Bottleneck Expected on I-5,” Aug. 11

Reading about the Interstate 5 freeway widening reminds me again how stupid we humans are. Anyone who thinks about traffic problems for a while will have to conclude that repeated roadway widening is futile. Congested freeways are not a problem -- they are a symptom. The problem is out-of-control population growth. Politicians and builders feed on that growth, so no real solutions get implemented. There are some intermediate solutions, such as a ban on residential development in high-growth areas like Southern California, that would even out population densities. The only real solution is for us to have fewer babies.

GARY BLAKELY

Anaheim

*

Caltrans and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority have Interstate 5 at such a low priority that they won’t be able to widen sections of it for 10 years? I can’t believe that. It’s almost as bad as believing that the local schools will improve when the politically savvy mayor takes control of the L.A. Unified School District. In 10 years, your economy will be sitting in the same congested two and three lanes, going nowhere. The whole route through downtown L.A. is a bottleneck. Most of the time, the trucks that make our economy run are taking up at least two lanes, just like the Long Beach Freeway. It’s time to rethink your priorities, guys.

STEWART CASE

Santa Ana