LETTERS LETTERS (September 24, 2003)

Eliminate the El Camino bottleneck

Editor:

In 1988, a few blocks of El Camino in Menlo Park were reduced from three lanes to two lanes of through-traffic in each direction.

The volume of traffic has certainly increased in the past 15 years, and the unfortunate result can be seen in the traffic backups that we now experience on a daily basis. What is needed today is a reconfiguration of El Camino back to three lanes in each direction, to match the capacity of the lanes feeding into Menlo Park from our neighboring cities. It is a project that can be accomplished at very low cost.

The benefits of three lanes are less traffic delay for both El Camino and cross-town routes; less cut-through traffic in our residential neighborhoods; more efficient operation of the adaptive signal synchronization system; improved customer access to Menlo Park businesses; and improved traffic circulation throughout Menlo Park.

To learn more, please visit www.3-lanes.com or, please write to info@3-lanes.com if you would like to participate in promoting this effort.

Jim Harvey
Cotton Street, Menlo Park

League opposes ballot propositions

Editor:

Lost in the confusion over the recall election, two propositions will appear on the ballot if the election is held October 7 or in March. The League of Women Voters opposes both propositions and is concerned that voters will not have enough information to make informed decisions.

Proposition 53 locks into the state constitution funding for infrastructure improvements, with no provision for new revenue. Although public works are needed, this is the wrong way to fund them. Setting aside funds before the legislature votes on the budget reduces the state's flexibility to set priorities.

Proposition 54 amends the constitution to ban government from using racial and related information essential to public health, education reforms, crime prevention, and civil rights enforcement.

Over 40 health organizations, including the California Medical Association, oppose this amendment.

We urge the voters to look closely at these two issues and vote no with the League of Women Voters.

Gerry Felix, president
League of Women Voters
of South San Mateo County

Disgusted about photo of fatal accident

Editor:

My dear friend, Perry Lisman, was killed in a traffic accident in Redwood City on August 26. On August 27 the San Mateo Daily Journal published a full color photo of the accident scene on the front page.

This horrible photo included not only my friend's wrecked motor scooter, but also showed his draped body with blood streaming on the pavement. His body was so mangled in the crash that neither the coroner, nor the mortician was comfortable with allowing Mr. Lisman's wife to see his body.

The last image she had of her husband was the way he looked when she kissed him good-bye that morning. Then this horrifying photo appeared and her reaction to the photo was identical to her reaction of when I first had to tell her that her husband had been killed. Now she will have to live with that image burned into her memory.

Thank you for not allowing that kind of photo in your paper. You are setting the standard for what is acceptable in a quality paper.

The San Mateo Daily Journal editor failed to comprehend the extreme pain created for the family of my friend. No one wants to see that type of horror in a community newspaper.

The fact that other newspapers stoop to this level of journalism does not make it right. Let's work together to ensure that sensationalist photos never get printed in the newspaper.

Sylvia Kappelmann
Wood Lane, Menlo Park