Thursday, March 6, 2008
Letters to the editor
Freeway will relieve roads
People write saying we don't need the north corridor freeway. Being an old timer, I heard the same thing before they built I-90 through town and Valley. There is more traffic now on Sprague than 1950s. They need to extend Appleway to Liberty Lake, a rail transit system to Coeur d'Alene, Spokane International and Fairchild AFB.
When we go hunting, fishing, camping, berry picking, etc., heading north early in the morning, there is a steady column of vehicles coming toward us, all the way to Colville or Newport. When they get toward town they branch off on Country Homes Boulevard, Alberta, Northwest Boulevard, Maple-Ash, Monroe, Wall, Division, Lidgerwood, Addison, Nevada, Crestline, Market, Freya, Bigelow Gulch, Argonne, Bruce, Upriver, Forker and many others, putting millions of dollars of damage to our streets, especially studded tires or big trucks, plus polluting our air.
Twenty years from now it will be many times worse. We need a rail transit system going north also. Gas will be over $7. Raise gas tax 5 cents for Spokane, Stevens, Pend Oreille and Seattle area, and then the rest of state five years later. The more you drive, the more you pay. None of this nonsense of $150 licenses.
Paul B. Dougherty
Spokane
Paul makes a some good points in his letter to the editor that ran in the Spokesman Review this morning. Many people don't realize that the North Spokane Corridor (aka, North/South Freeway), includes the right of way for a light rail link to the north. So, when the freeway portion of this corridor is built out, the land for the light rail project will have been purchased, which is the most expensive part of building a light rail system. By the way, the corridor also has separated bike paths and park-n-ride lots. Wouldn't it be great if the east/west light rail system could be built out and operational when the North Spokane Corridor is completed?
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