To the editor:

The article in the July 30 Journal-World about building a road from 27th Street to the Clinton Dam is another boondoggle idea the city has come up with that wastes taxpayer money.

So far this year the city has wasted tens of thousands on creating outside seating areas in the downtown before they knew how many would actually be used, i.e., very few.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars on plans and implementation of a bike boulevard on 21st Street when there is a new tunnel, bike lanes and sidewalks two blocks away on 19th Street. Check it out: From Iowa you can’t drive east on 21st past Ousdahl unless you are on a bike. Where are the bikers going anyway? The purpose of the tunnels was to safely get across Iowa; can’t do that on 21st.

Now, they want to spend $1 million-plus building a 24-foot wide road and a 10-foot wide bike/walking path (a path already exists less than 100 yards away) through an area where people walk their dogs and animals migrate between forest areas. Why? So cars coming out of the soccer/baseball fields don’t have to wait at a stoplight that won’t exist when the SLT is widened starting, hopefully, about the time this project is finished. Clinton Parkway will still carry almost all the traffic to the lake, dog park and golf course. Don’t waste money destroying a beautiful natural area.

John Shelton,

Lawrence