Expressways are intended to move traffic

Feb 11, 2011 2 min read

To the editor:

After hearing of the mayor’s plan traffic plan the following email was sent to council:

Council,

I see the mayor is talking out of both sides of his mouth….again. www.nbc-2.com/Global/story.asp?S=14000947

“I don’t think it’s going to be a bad thing for them. It will add some traffic but not that big a deal,” said Sullivan. If it’s “not that big of a deal” and it’s not going to add that much traffic, then why do it at all? Either there is a problem with traffic on Veterans or there isn’t.

Prior to the mayor and some on council coming to this city many homes and families were displaced when the East-West corridor was built. The Veterans Expressway corridor as it was subsequently named was designed to move traffic. If the issue is moving traffic then the flyovers, which were part of the original design plan resulting in the corridor being called an “expressway” can not simply be ignored or abandoned. The corridor/expressway plan is in direct conflict with the mayor’s statement and the position of many on council who are not familiar with the history of the city.

For the mayor to make the statement; “I don’t want to hear later on about more flyovers going in that area so what we’re trying to do is make sure it doesn’t happen” is totally contrary to what Veteran’s Expressway was designed to accomplish….to move traffic! Maybe the mayor would do better to consider round a bouts since his alternative solutions are foolhardy at best.

I’ll leave the elected body with this thought. You need to remember the traffic issues and Veterans Expressway are going to be with this city long after all of us are gone. Voting for today or for friends who may directly benefit may not always benefit the city as a whole. I suggest that you re-look at the original design plans for Veterans and figure out what it will take to make that plan, including the flyovers, work. Doing so will have far less impact to the majority of residents while getting the Veterans EXPRESSWAY plan back on track.

Ralph LePera

Cape Coral