In Praise of Alternatives to the Pasadena Freeway

This is a reply to Lawrence Berg’s letter relative to the freeway system and the city of South Pasadena (Times, July 16).

Please be advised, Mr. Berg, that I have commuted from my home just north of Huntington Drive to downtown Los Angeles since 1961, and I have invariably found it quicker and less frustrating, at peak traffic hours, to use Huntington Drive, Broadway and Chinatown--yes, through Lincoln Heights--rather than the Pasadena Freeway. This has been true throughout the duration of my residence here. Whenever I have tried the freeway during peak hours, I always wonder why I did that yet one more time, and revert, with relief, to my tried and true non-freeway route the very next day.

Freeways have their time and place, but they are not a collective panacea.

THEODORE G. CONGDON

South Pasadena