Roads, gas, traffic

In 1958, I joined the military. My tour ended in California. We stayed. My wife (who is also from Pittsburgh) and I return now and then to visit relatives. You have done wonders with the Downtown and along the rivers, where the mills once stood. But your roads are some of the worst in the world. No foreign country -- Third World or otherwise -- we visited has roads or potholes like the South Hills.

You have large reserves of natural gas, yet you debate drilling. Beverly Hills High School has a number of oil and gas wells on campus. Signal Hill in Long Beach, Calif., has many wells in town sprinkled about the business district. They're on Home Depot parking lots and next to banks. Off Wilshire Boulevard, wells and production facilities are covered by fake houses in very upscale business and residential neighborhoods. Money from these wells supports schools and city services and heats many of the homes in the Los Angeles area.

Also, you dig up streets to replace gas, water and sewer lines but leave ugly, outdated electric poles and wires in place. You need more left- and righthand turn lanes and computer-controlled traffic signals. Your morning traffic is much worse than in Los Angeles, and you have very few vehicles to move. You need to first solve your traffic problems before you build another hockey arena.

ROBERT L. BLAIR
Arroyo Grande, Calif.