Speedway streets

Given the speedways that motorists have staked out on our city streets (Division-Ruby, Nevada, Maple-Ash), I wonder if they are a reason for the poor financial performance of the Spokane County Raceway (Spokesman, May 6). Why pay to watch someone else race when you can have the thrill of driving for free?

Many evenings, for hours on end, cars race up a north-south thoroughfare, across an east-west one, and down another north-south. Their tricked-out mufflers make loud and disturbing noises. At the Buckeye-Foothills traffic light, some accelerate from zero to 60-80 mph by the next light, about three blocks away.

These speedway streets have seen numerous accidents in the last few years, some fatal. They make life dangerous for other motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians.

Recently, my neighborhood council, Emerson-Garfield, brought this issue to our community resource officer, Officer Dale Wells. He immediately looked into it, validated our concerns, and began working with the Spokane Police Department and the State Patrol (Division Street is a state highway) to address the issues, especially on Friday and Saturday evenings when the behavior is the worst.

The results were instant, with a drop in speeding, noise and pollution. I am extremely grateful and I hope that attention will be extended to additional evenings. Yesterday, a Wednesday, the speedsters were out roaring up and down our streets from about 4:00 pm to about 8:00 pm.

Linda Carroll

Spokane