Letters to Editor

Editor:

I find the location of the newly installed speed cushion on Del Monte to be ineffective and useless. With cars parked next to the hump, a driver is forced to put one wheel in the opening between the humps and one on the hump. This totally negates the effect the cushion in supposed to have, i.e. slow down traffic.

I have hit the new “hump bump” at the speed limit—25 mph—and barely realized something was there.

Additionally, why was installation at that spot? Is Del Monte a speedway? No, it isn’t.

Why not put the cushion at the GRF road exit to Seal Beach Boulevard where it might do some good by preventing drivers from flying through stop signs to make green lights? In that spot (adjacent to the On-Site Home Sales office), fire engines are leaving the community and should not have to worry about getting somewhere quickly.

And it seems we ultimately bought the speed cushions from the same organization that “mistakenly underestimated the device cost” so we only got one when we should have gotten five, which means we rewarded bad behavior with money, our money! Dave LaCascia Mutual 4 Editor’s Note: GRF Security chose the locations of speed cushions based on accident and speeding statistics in the community. One cushion has been installed and four more are scheduled to be installed in the near future through a different company as the original order was delayed, and costs came in much higher than estimated. The GRF Board voted to proceed with the installation at Del Monte in the interest of traffic safety. Editor: It’s been about 10 days since the newly installed Del Monte speed cushions were installed. Here is some eyewitness feedback.

During the first few days, many cars sped/flew over them, and I even saw one fire truck with sirens and lights blazing that apparently paid no attention to the new hump and proceeded full speed over it. The truck’s back end bounced up off the ground, just like a Disneyland E-Ticket from many years past.

But then, orange construction cones appeared on both sides of the street, and drivers began taking heed and slowing down. I mean, they really slowed down.

The results are amazingly quiet. I’ve lived on the “Del Monte freeway” for 19 years and heard many thousands of cars zoom by both day and night. But no more. Traffic is peaceful and calm now. I rarely hear any cars dashing to or from the front gate, and the numerous residents using the Sunningdale crosswalk are much safer since this installation.

Thanks to GRF Director Lee Melody from Mutual 14 for spending two years on this project.

Patti Ellsworth Mutual 14 Editor:

Did R. Gene Vesely (Jan. 4) mean to imply that the Democratic Club members and other Americans not belonging to one or the other of our major political parties, do not support an allegiance to our great country? Can this be true? If any group seems intent on subverting our constitution, sowing distrust among our citizenry, and promoting divisive misinformation, among other ills, Mr. Vesely need look no further than to his own political movement. Who is clamoring for dissolution of our nation? Who is arguing for a one-world government?

The Republican Party would do better to focus on viable solutions regarding immigration, America’s involvement in the Middle East, disparities of wealth, suffering of those who are unable to afford their medications ... and many other topics.

Jeff Colflesh Mutual 6 Editor:

I wrote a letter to the editor published Oct. 19, regarding the hazards of the intersection at Golden Rain and St. Andrews. The letter was written as a response to yet another article of an accident at this main intersection. My point was that a left-turn arrow was needed. My letter was rebuffed two weeks later by a LW resident who felt an additional 45 seconds at the light at this intersection (should a left turn arrow be installed) would hamper his commute to work.

Upon turning the first page of the Jan. 11 edition of the LW Weekly, it was impossible not to see the picture of the cars involved in an accident involving a left-turning car at this main intersection. Case in point.

The intersection is dangerous because of the extraordinarily wide divide between eastbound and westbound lanes due to the flood control channel, which hampers a driver’s view of oncoming traffic.

Can we please just err on the side of caution and install left turn arrows before one of these accidents results in a fatality? Karen Oja Mutual 9 Editor’s Note: The GRF Board has given the go-ahead to hire a traffic consultant to draft a plan for dedicated left-turn lanes with a pedestrian crossing component. Once the plan is finalized and approved by the board, bids will go out to begin construction.