To the editor:

If Jason Blaylock (Public Forum, Dec. 18) is hoping that completion of the South Lawrence Trafficway will untangle the snarl of traffic on 23rd Street, he would do well to remember the admission of even former Kansas Department of Transportation counsel Mike Rees that no matter what route it was built on, the SLT would have a negligible effect on traffic on 23rd.

Contrary to Blaylock’s hope that the 32nd street alignment of the SLT would route him and others around Lawrence, according to the city’s new growth projections, it would soon take him right through the middle of it.

I also question the positive spin Blaylock puts on Lawrence gaining a reputation as a “bedroom community,” the last thing the Chamber of Commerce and city and county commissions would like to see happen. A healthy community is built primarily of people who live where they work.

Finally, Blaylock’s eagerness to see the South Lawrence Trafficway built through one of the precious few remaining wetlands in Kansas and a site sacred to native people so that he can shave 20 minutes off his commute seems a bit selfish and shortsighted. It’s all in your perspective, I suppose.

Kelly Barth,

Lawrence