The 101 Freeway needs more lanes––no ifs, ands or buts

The only thing louder than the roar of protest against a proposal to widen the 101 Freeway was the deafening silence of tens of thousands of commuters.

Most of the noise came from homeowners and others who would have been uprooted by construction of a wider freeway.

Elected officials, too, joined the crescendo from their soapboxes because they perceived it as politically expedient.

Isn’t it entertaining when officeholders listen to the loudest voices while totally ignoring the silent majority? Compared to the dissidents, commuters are a huge majority—but they didn’t stand up and scream.

In retrospect, they should have. Maybe a loud outcry was the ticket to more traffic lanes.

Make no mistake about it, more concrete on the 101 Freeway would have successfully reduced commute times. During peak hours, an extra lane of pavement substantially loosens the gridlock and allows traffic to start moving again.

Anybody who disagrees either lacks common sense or hasn’t traveled the 101 during rush hour.

Freeway studies and political tap dancing can’t erase the simple fact that the 101 Freeway needs more lanes. It’s not the only solution, but it’s the most meaningful.

So instead of celebrating a victory for loudmouths in the San Fernando Valley, elected officials should be hanging their heads in shame for lacking the guts to do the right thing.

Good luck to the quiet people who commute to jobs in Los Angeles.

The obscene number of hours that they spend in gridlock will continue to grow while elected officials in the future can also wring their hands and wonder why on earth that more freeway lanes weren’t planned in 2003.

Maybe someday, somebody will do the right thing instead of just bending to the wishes of loud-mouthed protestors.

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