Mailbag: Safety can be taken too far

Glendale’s self-appointed safety czar, Councilman Ara Najarian, and his residential disciples have renewed their interest to save us from yet another disaster — the closure of our rail crossing at San Fernando Road and Doran Street (“Metrolink looks into crossing,” Dec. 12).

Here we go again. I am mystified that this issue has again floated to the top. What, the Metrolink Board of Directors supports this? Oh, what a shock. The facts have always been that Metrolink, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Union Pacific and the Public Utilities Commission would enjoy closing all the rail crossings and eliminating all risk. Getting the support of these entities is like asking a drug addict if he wants the keys to the pharmacy.

Oh, and Najarian has the backing of his residential constituents. Let’s see if he can get the support of residential, commercial and industrial property owners he’s looking to isolate and target in the Los Angeles area.

Clearly, Najarian has no real estate interest in this area of Los Angeles, and I doubt he travels the area with any frequency. In addition, if this area he proposes to cut off were within the city limits of Glendale, he would no doubt be a bit more concerned about these voters and be thinking safety enhancements rather than closure.

So we close Doran Street and San Fernando Road and double the traffic at Broadway and San Fernando Road, resulting in an intersection that reaches to a Category D or E. How about a focus on safety? We all understand the relative complexity of this intersection, but I believe intelligent, committed people will find a solution.

We’ve already lost two crossings in our San Fernando Road corridor.

We have many more important matters facing this city. Next thing you know, we’ll all be wearing seat belts at City Council meetings.

TONY MANISCALCHI

Glendale

Thanks to city for being so bike-friendly

Being a lifelong resident of Glendale, and a cyclist, I am very excited about the addition of sharrows for cyclists on the road (“Avenue becomes bike-friendly,” Dec. 17).

There is often a misconception that bikes do not belong on the road. However, the law states that a bicycle is a vehicle and belongs on the road just as much as a motor vehicle. Installing the sharrows will hopefully remind motorists that they should make a little room for a bike.

Thank you Glendale for the recent bike-friendly additions!

KRISTEN SHADBURN

Glendale