To the editor,
I am writing because I think the time has come for Auburn to do something about the deplorable traffic situation at the intersection of highways 75 and 136.
For years, Auburnians have had to tolerate these enormous, loud, and dangerous semis that have assaulted our town for decades. They fill our air with diesel fumes, shake our old brick and stone buildings, the livestock trucks leak urine and worse on our streets, and tie up traffic.
Now, thanks to the State Department of Roads’ total unwillingness to allow for any sort of meaningful change, we have lost an Auburn landmark, and, depending on how stable the Hetzel Block building turns out to be, could be losing another.
It is imperative we get these trucks out of our town. I realize there are a few merchants who oppose this idea because of financial interests, but - and it could take another century for it to come to pass- there will be nothing left of our fine old buildings. How do we think our downtown being reduced to rubble will affect the bottom line then? What happened a few days ago was simply a disaster waiting to happen, but it points out the utter stupidity of trying to get all those semis through those narrow roads. What does one suppose it might take to get those trucks to stop and shop at a business district with dummy storefronts and insurance offices?
I would suggest forming a committee to look into getting the State to do something really meaningful about all of this. And I’m not suggesting the usual suspects, either . I would choose from volunteers who must live and work in Auburn, and not the people who own everything and attempt to keep everyone else in the dark about their “projects”.
In closing, I would ask people to consider that which they find more important... selling a few burgers to the semi drivers who don’t stop here anyway, or save our downtown from being destroyed by these huge, rumbling behemoths. Just think of the new businesses that would open up if downtown were open to passenger and light truck traffic only!
I fear it is only a matter of time until a child is badly injured or a pedestrian is hurt or killed. In the meantime, I am heartbroken about what we have lost in this completely avoidable incident.
Thank you,
Kevin A. Casey
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