Letters
to the editor: Planning needed for marathon
If
you live in Long Beach near the campus,
as I do, and tried to get around on Sunday,
Oct. 12, you can probably appreciate what
I feel as I write this letter. If I had
known that when I left my house to get groceries
that my way would be blocked, and it would
take me an hour to navigate the three miles
back home, I would have never left.
It's
not so much the marathon itself that infuriates
me, but the planning of it. The route used
by the runners takes them by the more scenic
parts of the city, but blocks off major
traffic arteries in doing so. Pacific Coast
Highway, Anaheim, Atherton, Appian, 2nd
street, Westminster, Ocean, Park, Studebaker;
all blocked, bringing the city's roads to
an utter halt. It would be one thing if
they had planned some way for traffic to
flow with the runners, but no such foresight
was apparent in this pointless event.
If
you're a running enthusiast and like marathons,
fine. I can respect that. But what I don't
respect is we, the 495,000 citizens of Long
Beach, paying in taxes and stress for you
to pretend like you're in Greece. You want
to run 26 miles? Do it on the sidewalk and
let the rest of us get on with our lives.
And
if you do feel as enraged as I do, please
call the city hall at (562) 570-6555 and
let them know you don't appreciate being
cut off from your home by a jogging route.
-- Jesse Langham
computer engineering major
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