Our Civic Leaders Fail Freeway 101

Re “101 Ways to Ease Congestion Narrowed to a Few,” July 31: Once again, homeowner “representatives” Gerald Silver, president of the Coalition of Freeway Residents, and Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn., make haste to silence any and all discussion of new transportation strategies for the West Valley. Close even goes so far as to warn: “If an earthquake comes ... having a double-deck could destroy the whole freeway.” Right.

So what are we left with after all these years of leadership? We have a beautiful subway--that terminates at Universal City. And we have yet to hear a single constructive idea. I shudder to think what it would be like to live in “Camelot” with these leaders.

Thomas Bliss

Sherman Oaks

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Air rushes in to fill a vacuum; water flows to the lowest level

The consultants state that if nothing is done, by 2025 it would take 99 minutes to make the trip from Thousand Oaks to downtown Los Angeles, according to projections. Does it occur to the consultants that very few L.A. commuters would move to Thousand Oaks if the commute were to take 99 minutes? In other words, the growth in travel time will simply zero out at a level barely tolerable to the masses. That time may be greater than you or I would tolerate, but it would be just barely acceptable to the “last commuter in.”

So should we spend gazillions building new lanes/elevated structures while dislocating residents or should we rely on the judgment of commuters to locate their homes and places of work where safety and sanity prevails?

Ellis Katz

Encino