Editor,
Since the Plaza at Park Avenue was installed I’ve heard mixed feelings, but most people I’ve talked to feel it has caused more of a traffic problem.
I truly understand why some want to have more of a pedestrian friendly and park like atmosphere for the downtown, but we first need to find a way for less cars looking for parking to achieve this.
If we could get the amount of volunteers and nonprofit groups to spend more time and energy on getting the cars to park out of town or at the parking lot at the end of Laguna Canyon we might see a change where more plazas could be all over the downtown area. There could be a free parking festival one day out there offering free rental bikes for people that would like to ride down the canyon and if they wanted to turn in the bikes somewhere in town and take a trolley back to the parking lot there could be that option.
I know most of you think this is too dangerous. All the more reason we need a pedestrian walking trail and a bike path on Laguna Canyon Road going all the way out to Irvine. The marquee sign along the road could say, “You could be riding a bike not sitting in your car in traffic,” or “Turn around and go park at the Free Parking lot and ride a trolley for FREE.”
My point is before we do more Plazas around downtown, closing streets and taking up parking spots, let’s work on getting less cars driving into Laguna.
Liza I. Stewart, Laguna Beach
