My previous letter concerned the pickpockets (City Clowncil & Mayoress) who continually have their hands in our pockets to fund their favorite projects, which usually benefit only a small percentage of city residents. A clowncil member suggested I should be happy because my street is to be widened. Happiness was not my reaction! My street, Old Winston Rd, runs from Crescent Ford for approximately 2 miles where it dead ends into two gas stations. Going north, Hartley Dr. is the only through street to N. Main. All others dead-end after a block or two. There is little traffic north of Hartley. If Old Winston Road carries so much traffic so as to require widening, why is the waiting time at the traffic signal at Hartley/ O.W.R more than twice as long for the O.W.R. traffic?
When O.W.R was a main route from High Point to Winston Salem via 311N, there was considerably more traffic. The new 311 Bypass, and Hartley Drive have eliminated most of that traffic. It’s now mostly local traffic. Spending millions to widen a road that goes nowhere is idiotic. I suspect that outdated traffic figures from pre-Hartley/311 bypass days were used to justify this needless project. Why are they doing this? Because they can steal our property without compensation, then force us to fund the project with tax dollars. Didn’t we fight a war for independence from this kind of government tyranny? No matter the state of the local economy, the outrageous cost of energy, or anything else that forces most of us to re-evaluate spending priorities, and postpone or cancel projects, the politicians are going to continue to view us as their bottomless piggy banks. They are not about to postpone or cancel any project no matter how unnecessary or senseless.
Tony Moschetti
Old Winston Rd
July 29, 2006
