Alternate route

To the editor:

I have a suggestion for a much better route for the South Lawrence Trafficway. Rather than continue to deal with the contentious issues raised by the through-the-wetlands route, why not bring the SLT off K-10 at Noria Road, go north around the industrial park to 15th Street, then west on 15th Street to Louisiana, and on south to 31st street? Not only would this route avoid the wetlands, it would make the SLT more accessible. I realize that there are a couple of minor problems with the route, but both are easily resolved:

1. The route might inconvenience a few homeowners who don’t want a major highway going through their backyards. Considering that so many good citizens believe it is OK for the SLT to go through Haskell Indian Nations University’s backyard, they shouldn’t object to making this small sacrifice for the greater community good themselves.

2. The proposed route goes through two underdeveloped plots known locally as Oak Hill Cemetery and Memorial Park Cemetery. Following the standards set by KDOT, I dug some two-foot-deep holes and also checked both plots with ground-penetrating radar, but found no graves. Now that we know these areas pass the KDOT no-graves test, in addition to the SLT, we can build a few apartment buildings on the sites as well and get the land back on the tax rolls.

This solution should make everyone happy.

John E. Simmons,

Lawrence