Friday, March 7, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
To put a damper on this, our city traffic managers, under pressure from merchants and such, adjusted the few existing traffic lights to stop the cars at each corner. That rule was "carved in stone," as it still exists today for the thousands of traffic lights installed since then.
Today, we find angry motorists stopping at each corner along their 15-miles-or-so trek across town. Scores of cars back up at each corner, spewing out smog with their drivers also spewing out hate and discontent at everyone within earshot.
In order to reduce this congestion, we are gold of bold new worlds in the form of computerized traffic-control systems and of modern super-duper freeway systems at some obscure price tag supported by some also obscure source. Naturally, we all know what that source will be.
If changing the rule to stop traffic could be enacted by our founding fathers, why can't it be changed today? Wouldn't that be easier and less costly, or do our city managers have a thing going with the oil companies and freeway-construction people, or are they just caught up in today's mania over computers? Why do we have to keep telling our all-so-wise leaders how simple it is to get the lead (excuse the pun) smog out!
Robby Alston
archive
