<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">Courtesy of today’s (March 2, 2018) Moscow-Pullman Daily News with thanks to Christopher LaPaglia.<div><br></div><div>———————————————</div><div><br></div><div><div><h1 itemprop="headline" class="headline" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 42px; margin: 0px 100px 0px 0px; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Letter: Congestion and corruption?</span></h1></div><div><br></div><div>As discussion over the Third Street/Paradise Creek bridge drags on, two questions keep coming up in my mind.</div><div><br></div><div>1) Third Street is the one place in town where you are sure to find a morning rush hour traffic jam. Anyone who knows Moscow traffic avoids driving on Third Street during the busy times. What possible benefit to the city's traffic flow would stem from funneling more traffic onto this already busy street? The "traffic-calming" measures being promoted will just slow things down even more, as well as suck up already scarce parking.</div><div><br></div><div>2) Go to the intersection of Third Street and Paradise Creek, then look across Mountain View Drive. There is a huge housing development ready to start building this year. A bridge on Third Street is almost certain to rev up the sales and prices of those lots. What financial and business connections do our mayor and City Council have with that developer? The hurried and undemocratic process of pushing through this misbegotten bridge project might be explained by those relationships. Utility to the city fails as an explanation, so maybe business-as-usual political corruption is to blame.</div><div><br></div><div>I guess I should have asked these questions before our most recent city elections.</div></div><div><br></div><div>Christopher LaPaglia</div><div>Moscow</div><div><br></div><div>———————————————<br><br><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><br></div></div></div></body></html>