End the Monore diet

Road diet means limiting the amount of traffic. It is quite clear why Monroe Street businesses are against the proposed road diet, the greater percentage of businesses along this section is autocentric, depending on traffic for their livelihood. The City Council and Streets Department have effectively given their middle finger to these businesses using false estimations of the amount of traffic, and the eventual loss of traffic after the changes are made to Monroe Street.

The City Council member who represents this area and the Neighborhood Council representatives who support the change have unfairly cast opinions not shared by the majority of the neighborhood residents or those to be most affected by this change.

To compare this section of Monroe to the Perry District, Sprague or East Main is ludicrous. This is one of the main north/south arterials, and once commuters move to alternatives (Wall/Post and the already overcrowded Maple/Ash routes), to think that only 17 percent of traffic will not return shows a complete lack of understanding the commuting drivers.

How pathetic our so-called representatives show their lack of the real role this route plays and at the eventual expense of business owners whose livelihood is tied directly to that role.

Tom Peacock

Spokane