Editor:

In the November 16 edition of the Clipper there appeared an article captioned "Centerville to take closer look at Main St. Transit." Quoting from the article "With UDOT looking at putting in bus rapid transit, light rail or street cars on Centerville's Main Street in the next five to 10 years, city officials are preparing for the changes in the transportation corridor." The article goes on to quote Steve Thacker, Centerville's city manager as saying, "Keeping in mind that someday we will likely have mass transit on Main Street, we don't know if we will need to widen the street or where it would be required, etc."

My question is, who decreed that Centerville would ever need mass transit on Main Street? Centerville is a small city and Main Street is only about three miles long. It was also stated in the article that while city officials are looking to make changes to the plan on Main Street from Pages Lane to Parrish Lane, areas north of Parrish may also be affected in the process. The distance from Pages Lane to Parrish Lane is one mile. It boggles the mind to think that mass transit is being planned for one mile. Is mass transit being planned for Bountiful Main Street? Is it being planned for Farmington Main Street?

We have I-15 less than one mile from Main Street and will soon have commuter rail and Legacy Highway in the same area. Why would Centerville need any type of bus rapid transit, light rail or street cars on Main Street? It just doesn't make any sense. Seventy percent of the people of Centerville were opposed to a Wal-Mart being built in their city, but a super Wal-Mart is now being built. This mass transit should not be just a decision of UDOT or the city manager. The people who live in this city should have some say in what is planned for their city.



Joan K. Steed

Centerville