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High cost of traffic congestion

Editor, Index-Tribune:

 

Last Friday afternoon, I had occasion to drive to the Bay Area from Sonoma. At Sears Point, as I merged from Arnold Drive on to westbound Highway 37, I couldn't help but notice the traffic congestion eastbound, and the congestion continued back almost to Highway 101. I remembered back over the years how I had been caught in that same congestion, but my recollection was that it was a much shorter line from east of Lakeville Highway to Sears Point. The bottleneck, of course, is created because, at Sears Point, Highway 37 reduces from two lanes to one to continue across the marsh from Sears Point to Vallejo. It is essential to make two lanes of highway in each direction from Sears Point to Vallejo.

In the past it has been the environmental activists who have prevented this from happening, so my questions of the same people today are, what is the carbon foot print of parked traffic, and who do they think is paying for the time of the people in the vehicles in this same parked traffic? There are always unintended consequences for all actions that we, as humans, take. In this particular case, I believe that it is practicality and reason that should prevail over activist zeal.

Please join with me in requesting that our elected leaders explore the need and respond in a prudent manner.

Arnold Riebli
Sonoma