George,

I have been opposed to the dissection of a park to accomodate automobiles. I think it marks the beginning of a trend that has endless destructive potential and, eventually, the quality of what makes Charlottesville a wonderful place to call home.

I don't expect gaslights, horse drawn carriages and cobblestoned streets, but, some of the most desirable communities of the US have made the control of the obtrusiveness of automobiles a centerpiece of what makes these cities and towns thrive.

There are places (albeit, mostly tourist attractions) that ban cars completely, Mackinac Island, Michigan allows only police, fire and rescue vehicles. Somehow, the island manages. In my lifetime, I have seen the demand for "convenience" mushroom into uncontrollable sprawl where once beautiful, parklike boulevards are transformed into speedways. Remember when Route 29 north actually had trees and grass growing in the islands that separated the roadway?

Is it worth it to try to preserve a quality of life in preference to "roadhog" gas guzzling SUVs and enormous cars, and the roadways to accomodate them?

Rest assured, like Route 29 North, there will be no end, after turning 29 into a mammoth "runway" as a solution to traffic congestion, try going north on a Friday afternoon.

As someone has observed, roadways or "parkways" are never wide enough or have enough lanes.

When a family of four needs five cars, there is something fundamentally wrong with our concept of "freedom."

When gasoline is so cheap relative to the rest of the industrialized world, solutions to the monstrous problems of the never ending increase in automobile use or abuse is difficult to foresee.

So, it falls on our elected officials to attempt solutions without the burdens and expense of furthur taking the path of least resistance by just destroying more public land and laying down more blacktop.

Maybe, I was delinquent in asking enough questions of our recent Democratic nominees for city council regarding this issue, what I am hearing now, from some, is not what I thought I voted for in the first place.

Frankly, I am disappointed and knowing what I know now, might have influenced my decision to choose ideology over experience.

Harry Tenney (electronic mail, February 12, 2004)