Quake-Damaged Freeways

* Earthquakes and freeways do not mix in Southern California. In the many years that I have driven in the Los Angeles area, I was always highly amazed to see the many elevated on-ramps and off-ramps that were constructed with only a single center support column to hold them up, instead of the double center support columns that some of the older ramps have.

This type of construction is common in the Greater Los Angeles area, and I have wondered for years which ramps would stand up in case of a severe earthquake, because to me this appears to be a very dangerous method of construction in earthquake-prone country. On Jan. 17, I received the answer. How quickly we forgot about the disastrous Oakland earthquake, and we evidently did not learn anything from it. Did we?

RICHARD C. BARON

Glendora

* Your Jan. 21 editorial, “Necessary Evil: A Temporary Gas Tax,” is on target, but you could take it a step further. Combine it with your Jan. 21 article “Many Find Comfort and Help On-Line” and a novel new source of highway repair revenue could emerge.

Force employers to either extensively use the new electronic highways afforded by today’s telecommunications, E-mail and fax, or be required to pay an additional highway tax for each employee who is compelled by the employer to use the highways to drive to an office, where the work could have been done by the employees from their home via telecommunications.

The burden of proof should be placed on the employer to demonstrate, for each day that an employee drives to the office, why it was impossible for the work to be done by the employee at home using PCs and telecommunications.

This would not only generate substantial additional tax revenues for road repair but should help mitigate traffic congestion and be a major factor to convert California into a truly high-tech, efficient environment.

DONALD FENMORE

Los Angeles

* Here is a practical solution to the problem of alleviating traffic congestion during these post-earthquake times:

1. Prohibit any street parking from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on main thoroughfares. This will open up an additional traffic lane in each direction.

2. Double the traffic light time for all thoroughfare traffic at the expense of cross traffic. Once vehicles are on the thoroughfare, this should speed up travel time.

JEROME RAPPORT

Los Angeles

* The horrible earthquake that Los Angeles has endured served as a wake-up call for commuters.

Between two to four hours of commuting in one direction for single drivers is absolutely insane. Not only does the commuting waste time and gas and pollute the environment, it also causes the driver extreme stress and absolute misery.

Before the big quake, I decided to take the Commuter Express bus into downtown. The bus rides very smoothly and is extremely quiet. When I take the Commuter Express to work every day I read The Times, listen to the radio--sometimes I strike up a conversation with fellow passengers. I come to work happy, stress-free and guilt-free.

DENISE RENE

Los Angeles

* In watching the quake recovery planning, it strikes me that the quicker these freeways are back in service the better. The 10 Freeway overpass that fell constricts one of our most important freeway arteries, at a time when we need access and normalcy the most.

The solution? Remove the damaged roadway (almost complete already), fill in Fairfax with compacted dirt and asphalt, pave over the filled-in section. Other alternative: temporary steel structures and military bridges. If this were a critical military objective, it would be done in weeks.

After the freeways are flowing again, more time can be taken to plan the reconstruction, rebuild half at a time, etc, all the while preserving traffic flow.

CHRIS A. WELSH

Newport Beach