I think I understand why Patrick de Freitas and Donni Toth (Tuesday, Oct. 21) don't approve of major highway construction in the Salt Lake Valley such as the Bangerter Highway and the proposed Legacy Highway. As residents of Salt Lake City, they live in a community where multiple convenient routes to any given destination actually exist and where UTA buses travel those routes.
Those who live in communities bisected by Bangerter Highway are delighted to have a useful road that does exist. To illustrate this concept, I've made a short list of roads whose alleged existence has recently been affirmed by stories or maps published in the Deseret News:4800 West between 7000 South and Bingham Highway does not exist.
5600 West south of 7000 South does not exist.
7000 South west of Bangerter Highway does not exist.
A bridge over the Jordan River at 7000 South does not exist. (There are two roads in West Jordan that bridge the Jordan River, and both are under construction.)
Further, I describe the bus system in West Jordan. Recently my daughter had a job four miles from our West Jordan home. I called UTA to find a bus she could take to work. UTA told me she would have to change buses four times and travel through three communities outside of West Jordan for an overall trip of more than 10 miles that would take up to two hours to complete, all this for a trip that takes 10 minutes to drive and 45 minutes to walk. Needless to say, she did not ride the bus to work.
Essentially, the citizens of West Jordan and other communities pay taxes to subsidize Salt Lake City's convenient bus system. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to me that citizens of Salt Lake City should pay taxes to build convenient travel routes that, as yet, do not exist in my community.
Wendy Pearson
West Jordan