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Show And they got the best of both worlds. No traffic, U like on a "closed" street, but they still get mail delivery and services like garbage pickup Officially the street , ,u temporarily vacated u June while traffic studies are maAsek the people of South Temple, First South, Federa Way and Butler Avenue about traffic studies. Or the University Univer-sity Hospital ambulance drivers driv-ers Those 5,000 cars on Penrose Pen-rose Drive had to go somewhere some-where - and so the other roads in the area took up the burden. The net result ot course, is that Penrose Drive nets a reprieve from traffic; the other streets are overburdened; overbur-dened; traffic to and from the University becomes, if possible, pos-sible, even more congested; and the City Commission demonstrates dem-onstrates that the spirit ot "Public-be-damned" Commodore Commo-dore Vanderbilt still lives. Usually such pandering to small select minorities is not so obvious. The City Commission, and especially Streets Commissioner Commission-er Steve Harmsen (whose campaign cam-paign last year opposed closure), clos-ure), should reevaluate their stand and begin working out a coherent traffic plan for the area that takes everyone's interests in-terests into account. If you really believe that common folks run the government govern-ment around here, take a look at the "closed" sign on Penrose Pen-rose Drive. How a handful of petition-signers petition-signers can inconvenience a community of over 20,000 has been recounted at length in the pages of this newspaper. Since last October most petition-signers, even if they constitute con-stitute two or three handfuls, can't get anything from local government, much less have the traffic removed from their street. The solid citizens who asked for the Penrose closure were a different breed, though. They knew how to work within with-in the political system. They had determination, drive, and persistence. They had a just cause. Above all, they had lots of money and some big names (Harold B. Lee, now president of the LDS Church, and Congressman Sherman Lloyd). Once these assets were acquired, ac-quired, the conclusion was foregone. If the good taxpayers taxpay-ers of Penrose Drive wanted their street closed to the 5,000 cars using it daily, so be it. "There's too much traffic on our street," they wailed. "Put all those cars somewhere else!" |