Connecting Roads

Barbara Waycott, in her letter Aug. 13 (“Growth and Development,” Letters to the Valley Edition), called attention to the need for a highway between Chatsworth and Santa Clarita. Actually Gov. Jerry Brown removed the Chatsworth / Newhall highway from the state highway system. The Saugus to the Sea, Reseda to the Sea and Knudsen Parkway met a similar fate.

It is incomprehensible to me that Simi / Santa Clarita and Chatsworth / Santa Clarita, all three large, have no direct connecting roads. It just goes to show the result of mistakes in judgment. All three [communities] are dynamic commercial and industrial growth areas. What does it take to get our gasoline tax dollars used for the intended purpose? We were indeed fortunate to have had the foresight of Gov. Earl Warren to see a major need and to implement a plan for both new and improved roads. We are indebted to Gov. Pat Brown for carrying out those plans.

For too long, our gasoline dollars have been diverted to the state general fund. Our state highway system has suffered greatly to the extent that it will take billions of dollars to correct and bring up to present and future traffic demand.

CHARLES W. SMITH

Northridge