"Rivers of steel are what we have created by the overuse of the automobile. The automobile is a remarkable invention that has brought many advantages. However, as with many other things, we've overdone its use.

Cars dominate so much of our lives. Rather than adjusting our automobile use, we are planning more of the same. New garages will be built, streets will be widened and new roads are planned.

The build-up of traffic on existing streets is frustrating. At the same time we continue to entice more people to come to Charlottesville and especially to the downtown area. In other words, we continue to moan over our traffic and parking problems while bending our efforts to increase them.

I oppose the western bypass to U.S. 29. At the same time I am totally opposed to the Meadowcreek Parkway. It hangs like a dagger pointing toward the heart of the city. I am puzzled by the lack of opposition by those who live on McIntire Road and those who live in the historic Ridge Street area.

We seem oblivious to the fact that the parkway would lead to cutting the city in half. Stand in front of the Holiday Inn South and see the growing traffic on Fifth Street. When several thousand new homes are built south of town, then watch the huge growth in traffic.

Many cars, will go north to U.S. 29 and many will come south to Interstate 64. Meadowcreek Parkway, McIntire Road, Ridge Street, Fifth Street will be a new central "through pass." It won't be long before there is a cry to widen the "through pass."

I have sympathy for those who live on Rio Road and Park Street. Neither the city nor Albemarle County has taken sufficient measures that I believe would help both roads.

Not building the Meadowcreek Parkway may cause some short-term pain while at the same time preventing far greater pain in the long run." (Francis Fife, Letter to the Editor, The Daily Progress, July 1, 2002).