I would like to respond to Ted Cox’s letter, “High school plan not all bad”.

First of all, Renay Bennett has every right to comment on the high school plan since she has been president of the Bellecrest Community Club and a community leader. My wife and I live in Surrey Downs, represented by the “Surrey Downs Community Club.” Betsy Blackstock is our president and spokesperson. There is now a new group formed by Surrey Downs, Bellecrest, and Westwood Community Clubs called “the alliance for community planning’ which will study and comment on matters affecting our communities.

We have lived here 50 years so when we moved here, Bellevue High School was a much smaller school. Many residents have been here for years, some longer than 50 years. The Surrey Downs Community has thus been here for many years.

Bellecrest and Surrey Downs Clubs were excluded from the design process of the revision to the school because our input was deemed inappropriate by school administrators. Therefore, the first time we saw the proposed design was in the newspaper. We were dismayed to see the traffic potential.

The city has taken measures to ensure that 108th did not become a busy, through street. There are 15 mph speed bumps along it’s length and through traffic is not allowed south, across Main Street, by a right turn only traffic sign. Do not assume that all cars will obey that sign because I have had many cars steam right through as I was proceeding north to make a left turn on to Main from 108th.

Another factor is access to our community. We are bounded by 112th, Main, and 108th streets. A right turn only at 110th and Main precludes traveling toward downtown. Access onto 112th is often slow and dangerous. That leaves 108th as our main egress in and out of the community as we head down town.

Altogether, we deem the traffic plan of the new High School Plan to be NOT good for either Bellecrest or Surrey Downs communities.

Bill Easterbrook, Bellevue