Street Barrier Meant for Safety

Regarding the barrier at the end of Via Del Rey in South Pasadena, Al Martinez makes it sound like the Berlin Wall (“A Barrier to Better Living,” April 29). It is nothing of the sort, just a bunch of concrete blocks at the juncture of two streets, one in Los Angeles, the other in South Pasadena. The only things blocked are cars and trucks. People can freely walk, bike, or skate back and forth to their heart’s content, kids from both neighborhoods can play freely together, and adults can “meld” as much as they want.

The most important item Al conveniently neglected to mention is that there is an elementary school on Via Del Rey, about a block from the barrier, and the reduction in traffic affords a tremendous measure of safety for the schoolchildren.

Because other streets are open for vehicular traffic between the two neighborhoods, Al’s position that people are being kept out does not hold water. I believe that because Al wrote on this as a racist issue, it became one. Had he looked at it as a safety issue, and the barrier as an impediment to car traffic only, he might have dropped the subject.

ELLEN GOODHILL

South Pasadena