Letters to the editor for April 29
Speeding on I-5 is insanity
When will something be done about the number of drivers on Interstate 5 who are driving 20-plus mph over the speed limit between Portland and Seattle? They tailgate and weave in and out of cars, often with less than a car’s length between them and the vehicles to their front. My last 115-mile trip out of Portland to just Olympia was nearly two hours of white-knuckle mayhem, and in that time I saw just one Washington State Patrol car.
It’s time for our state to have more unmarked patrol cars on our freeways — and I mean unmarked. Nothing on those vehicles should indicate they are state owned or driven by an officer, including the WSP on the plates. Perhaps put a few dents on the sides and place a faring on the back and apply stickers on the front and back bumpers. These measures would indicate to the speeders that the driver is like them and doesn’t give a crap about fast they are going.
And most of all, when pulling these clowns over, the officer better run the vehicle’s plates and expect the worse, including the driver’s having a pistol on the seat beside them.
As far as I’m concerned, every WSP vehicle should be unmarked if that’s what it takes to get these people off our freeways. And don’t just write tickets, impound the vehicles on the spot.
Bob Hill, Olympia
Lacey’s growth is out of control
I would like to invite Lacey residents to view what terrible, thoughtless, reckless growth looks like.
Go out Sleater Kinney Road and take a right on 15th. The first huge moonscape will hit you as you turn your first corner. Not one tree in dozens of acres (football fields) of clear cuts where a month ago a huge, beautiful forest once stood. Travel another half mile on 15th and view the next moonscape. Again, a huge track of land stripped, not even a weed was spared.
These huge new developments have been placed on a two-lane country road with no sidewalks or shoulder with two more planned. Thousands of new residents expected to navigate an old country road. What is even more reckless and thoughtless is the funneling of all the traffic from Britton Parkway down that same country lane.
Residential development must have the infrastructure and services in place before growth can be allowed. The planning commission failed; the city council failed. The city manager, council, and commission must be held accountable. This is a dereliction of duty and another huge gift to developers at the expense of current residents.
As a current resident, you are going to pay for new schools, road expansion, fire, police, water, libraries and on and on through higher taxes. In many cases the council simply allows services and infrastructure to decline along with our quality of life.
You do not work for developers, and you are not a tree city USA!
Jim Weber, Lacey
Preserve trees in Capitol Forest
The Crush timber sale of a popular area of Capitol Forest should be reevaluated to consider whether it should be preserved for carbon sequestering and continued public access of a mature forest instead of clear cut, releasing additional CO 2.
Thurston County Commissioner Tye Mesner, who is responsible for the district where the mature forest is located, states that the modest portion of the proceeds likely to be received by Thurston County from this sale would not outweigh the overall value of the ecosystem provided by this important piece of forest.
Washington State public lands should benefit all, with a focus on future generations that cannot vote yet and will be most impacted by climate change.
Bruce Anderson, Olympia