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Published June 18th, 2014
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Letters to the Editor
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Editor:
I have been reading the police reports In Lamorinda Weekly and haven't seen any arrests for speeding along Canyon Road near my middle school Joaquin Moraga. I see cars going too fast when I'm going to school. On the weekends we usually hear cars and motorcycles racing down Canyon. This noise scares me because I'm afraid they might crash or hit other cars. I'm also worried about crossing Canyon Road. In conclusion, I think that police should spend more attention on this problem.
Respectfully,
Russell Kolm
Moraga
Editor:
Somewhere in the Town of Moraga's website there's a public forum for people to discuss the preservation of the Town's highest ridgelines and the technical aspects of hillside construction. It's so inaccessible that less than 1% of the Town's population has ever seen the webpage, but maybe that's just as well?
Kudos to the Town Council for setting up a process to try to reconcile the ever-combative attitudes of the pro-development and pro-open-space-preservation factions, but it's a shame that the scope of the effort won't allow for a discussion of the deeper, structural issues that really concern most of the town's residents. The Hillside & Ridgeline Project deals only with details of lot size, slope definition and many other technical definitions that your average townsfolk couldn't care less about.
It doesn't look towards creating an overall--well thought out--open space plan with wildlife corridors, walking trails and such. It doesn't try to understand the oft-cited, but nebulous "semi-rural character" of the Town. Who decides at what point the loss of open space could change the Town's character from what it is into something far less attractive? (This may be hard to define, but it makes more sense to consider it now rather than in retrospect.)
By the way, the process won't encompass the fact that the retail store component in the Town's General Plan is fabulously out of step with what the Internet has done to restructure modern retail. The idea of doubling the conventional retail space in the Moraga Shopping Center area, well, maybe that should be revisited in light of the fact that Amazon.com is now the biggest retailer in town? Likewise, there will be no discussion of the pressure put on Moraga's schools by all the planned development carved out in the General Plan.
Neither will the process support a discussion of the increasing traffic problems one encounters when heading out through Orinda and Lafayette. How much additional traffic can these roads really support? Major projects already on the Planning Department's website will increase the Town's population by 6%. No one really knows how this will affect traffic, yet more projects will likely be approved before these are built out. The General Plan calls for a total population increase of 19% above the current amount. Who gets to say when it's time to stop?
What so many residents care about is the extent to which Moraga will look more like Brentwood and Lafayette and less like its traditional picturesque self.
If the Town dodges its duty to honestly explore these underlying questions, the road rage will continue to escalate and the stress hormones baked into the outcome will continue to fester for years to come while the Town's character is deeded over to those with the highest paid lawyers.
Awaken, Moraga! If your hands don't find the steering wheel soon, your beautiful scenery may be visible only in your rear view mirror.
Jonathan Goodwin
Canyon
Editor:
On the Road to Better Roads
Congratulations and thanks to all of the Orindans who voted in favor of Measure J on June 3. The measure passed with more than 75% of the vote. The message of "Let's keep fixing Orinda's roads" really resonated with our friends and neighbors.
From phone calls made during the days leading up to the election, we learned that many voters thought long and hard before agreeing that Measure J was the correct next step for us to keep fixing our residential streets. Because of the number of endorsers (more than 600!) on our website and in print, the number of "Yes on J" yard signs, the generous financial support from more than 100 donors who paid for those signs and campaign mailings and, perhaps most important, the conversations you had with friends and neighbors to persuade them about the importance of passing Measure J, we can all look forward to continuing to see Orinda's worst residential roads being fixed next year (when the first bonds authorized by Measure J will be issued).
The repairs actually start this summer - on Lost Valley Drive and Charles Hill Road - thanks to the passage of Measure L in November 2012. That half-cent sales tax increase generated nearly $1 million in 2013 which is now being put to work.
Please continue to visit our website, www.fixorindaroads.org, for updates on how funds from Measures J and L will be put to use and where. Working with the members of the Citizens Infrastructure Oversight Commission and the city's Public Works department, we look forward to sharing good news with you.
Here's to a smoother-riding tomorrow - and thanks again!
Brad Barber, Bob Burt and Mark Roberts
Orinda
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA