Will Freeway Work Work?

The article, “Start of Project to Widen I-405 Marks New Era” (July 26), is a good PR piece. It tells us that the widening of I-405 and I-5 will inconvenience motorists, even though much of the work will be done during off-hours. Most candidly, the article also tells us that “some public officials and developers hope that this surge in highway construction will send a political message to Orange County voters. Feeling threatened by a countywide slow-growth initiative designed to control traffic, opponents of the measure hope that the upcoming round of freeway improvements will persuade voters that such a measure is unnecessary.”

If the history of “urban freeways as primary transportation” tells us anything, it is that a freeway system produces cars and drivers at a growth rate which is faster than freeways can be installed or improved to accept the additional traffic.

We need the improved freeways and a slow-growth policy--growth planned so as preserve free-flowing ways to and from the places we need to go. The elements of good auto transportation policy are all of a piece; ignoring any one of these elements ensures lack of success.

C. CHESTER BRISCO

Tustin