L.A. Marathon
I like a good civic event as much as the next guy, but there was one element notably missing from your effusive coverage of the marathon. While 19,000 people ran, many times that number were held prisoner in a frightening, impenetrable maze of closed-off streets.
A friend and I drove from San Diego, intending to attend an art auction in the 7600 block of Sunset Boulevard. At about the 6600 block we found the street blocked. We needed to go 10 blocks and for over an hour we tried. We failed. We found only a U-shaped wall of closed-off streets, a sea of trapped cars and frustrated drivers.
Whoever orchestrated this chaos deserves a big Bronx cheer, and so does the LAPD. There was no traffic direction, no hint of help for motorists trapped in city-created gridlock. I stopped one dour police officer and asked how to get around the race. His curt answer: you can’t.
STEVEN J. CASEY
San Diego
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