No one wants to live near a highway
To the editor:
I submitted the following letter to the mayor and Cape Coral City Council:
As a taxpayer I object to any widening of lanes.
When I was younger I went to college on the East End of Long Island. The Suffolk County Commissioners wanted to expand the ugly monstrosity of the Long Island Expressway that had eaten up local town centers and caused the expansion of blight. Residents on the East End wanted to preserve their way of life, protect their green spaces and said a resounding, “NO.” They were able to stop the expansion of the 12-lane Long Island Expressway from Riverhead on to Montauk. I was lucky enough to work with Fred Thiele who led the effort to keep the Hamptons green and beautiful.
That is why people still vacation on the East End, known as The Hamptons, because they were able to preserve the tranquility of the area instead of turning it into 12 lanes of concrete. You can still see on Google Earth the difference between the east end and Suffolk County, the East End is green on the map and Suffolk County is full of ugly sprawl. When you visit Southampton, NY, the local residents have been able to keep that area beautiful and avoided having homes and green spaces bulldozed.
We must preserve the reasons we came here.
There are alternate ways to deal with traffic by reaching out to city planners to utilize traffic calming measures. We must set boundaries on widening lanes to preserve the quality of life here and our property values. No one wants to live next to an expressway. At some point we must say STOP.
I oppose any plans to expand and widen lanes. Preserve the reasons we all have homes here. This is OUR community.
C.A.Hughes, MSW
Cape Coral