Widening Laguna Canyon Road

As expected, Southern California now has its Hetch Hetchy, and the unique natural beauty of our Laguna Canyon, which was millions of years in the making, will soon become history at the hands of the Irvine Co.

Whatever reasoning was employed to make this decision is difficult to accept. Did we really need more rooftops, more shopping centers, more cars, more pollution, more high-speed traffic, more of what we are grimly unhappy about as we look everywhere around us?

We could, and should, have preserved forever the natural foliage, the lakes, the sycamores, the magnificent rocks, which, by the way, were at one time covered by the ocean and still bear the formation of fish grottoes and tidal action. It’s a unique and beautiful area, still sheltering deer and wildlife, and a joy to those who find it welcome relief from the overwhelming development around us.

The winding road fits its surroundings and should never become a high-speed traffic artery. Why could it not have been designated as a controlled-speed road permitting passage through a wildlife preserve?

If this is visionary and impractical, I believe the day will soon come when we regret the shortsightedness of our decision-makers, and, like Northern Californians, try to put Hetch Hetchy back to its original pristine beauty.

Ever hear of Humpty Dumpty?

NORMA BAILIE

South Laguna