The Sunnyvale Sun
Letters & Opinions
Speak Out
Opposing traffic
plan not NIMBY
Bill Birnie (Aug. 8) is not entirely wrong. The development of Moffett Towers will be good for Sunnyvale and for those folks who will be working there and need to be able to get to and from work. The Mary Avenue Bridge, though, is not the answer.
Don't drive 10,000 cars through our neighborhood. There are other ways to get traffic in and out of Moffett Park. Improve the nightmare intersection of Matilda/101/ 237. Provide access to 237 at the north end of Moffett Park. Improve the 237/85 interchange.
Mr. Birnie accuses those of us who are opposed to the bridge of NIMBYism. This is not the case. I don't want to see an increase in traffic on any of our north-south streets-- not Hollenbeck, not Mary, not Bernardo. People live on these streets. Put those cars on Mathilda Ave., Central Expressway, Lawrence Expressway, 237, 85 and 101.
Just because someone thought up the idea of a bridge 40 years ago, does not mean that it needs to be built today. Say NO to the Mary Avenue Bridge.
Marti Coppage
Blair Avenue
Overpass bridge
is the wrong way
The Sunnyvale West Neighborhood Association is campaigning against the proposed Mary Avenue extension overpass bridge because it will do more harm than good to the residents of Sunnyvale West (residents from Bernardo to Charles Street, closer to Mathilda).
Once the bridge is constructed, the traffic not only doubles on Mary Avenue, but will also spill on neighboring streets like Hollenbeck and Bernardo, including the connecting streets. Constructing the overpass bridge will cause an increase in air pollution, which is hazardous to health. It will also be a safely issue for children going to school.
In order to keep our city safe and clean, we need to take measures by making the city green. That means reduce traffic in the residential areas to eliminate more contamination of the air. Keeping this aspect in mind, city officials need to take steps for diverting the traffic to the highway system rather than using the residential roads. There are three highways, 101, 237, and 85, passing near the Moffett park area that can be used to help commuters. The transportation authorities need to investigate ways to join the Moffett Park to these highways. For convenience of the commuters there is also a light rail system passing near the Moffett Park. The city can think of linking the light rail system to Moffett Park area for transporting people. This will help commuters from neighboring cities too without disturbing Sunnyvale residents.
Gopal Patangay
Sunnyvale
Opposition to
project grows
Sunnyvale West Neighborhood Association's objective is to preserve the nature of our residential neighborhood by stopping the building of the proposed Mary Avenue bridge. Mary Avenue branches into myriads of collector streets feeding into it and fanning out beyond them into streets which parallel Mary, like Bernardo and Hollenbeck.
Mary Avenue is not an island, just as no man is. When traffic starts to back up on the main arterial of Mary Avenue, drivers will seek to escape the gridlock by a 90-degree side street and connecting parallel street to continue advancing northward toward Moffett Park.Thus, not only will Mary Avenue be impacted by building a bridge from Mary across Highway 101, but every nearby street in Sunnyvale West--from Homestead to Evelyn--a major residential sector of Sunnyvale.
No one understands the current burden of traffic on Mary Avenue better than those whose driveways face this main residential arterial. We know what a doubling of that congestion will be like because we know how bad it is now to enter or exit a driveway during commute hours.
Those of us in SWNA are concerned about the general residential area surrounding Mary, not just Mary Avenue, so for a resident of Hollenbeck to cheer on the building of a bridge that will destroy our neighborhood is clearly illustrative that he doesn't understand the whole picture.
In my last Letter to the Editor, I pointed out the many roads that lead to the Moffett Park area for the commuters from different cities, since not all the new workers will originate from one town, be it Sunnyvale or elsewhere. Building a bridge at the end of Mary Avenue will not be helpful for commuters starting out from many different directions.
Highways and expressways exist to bear heavy automotive traffic between towns; a city street's function is to move travelers across that city. That is why the Sunnyvale City Council must find alternative ways to get workers from different South Bay residences to the new Moffett Towers.
The dissident spokesman from Hollenbeck argued that Mathilda is already cluttered with vehicles. True. But you don't correct one problem by creating another one. At least Mathilda is a commericial roadway whereas Mary is a residential street. That is a huge difference.
Jan Boehm
Mary Avenue
Resident speaks
for free speech
Can one person, Bob Kieve, president of Empire Broadcasting, be wrong?
Boy, can he ever! He claims in the August 8 issue of the Sunthat contacting Fox advertisers to point out the content of what Fox is broadcasting is somehow attacking freedom of speech. He bolsters his argument with a non sequitur, assuming "Fox-haters" would censor media that reflect philosophies of which they don't approve.
Bob says, "...it would be better if we simply responded to those opinions with which we disagree..." I submit that is exactly what we are doing and it in no way restricts freedom of speech. Fox has a license to broadcast and it will continue to broadcast. I just want the advertisers to know that I understand the difference between fact and fiction and don't appreciate advertisers that support fiction presented as fact.
A handful of corporations own the media and there is no way for viewers to directly respond. Americans were given misinformation by the media that led many to support an unnecessary war. It is time we expect the media to serve the public interest, as they once were required to do.
Phillip P. Pflager
Palm Avenue
