I often hear complaints about the traffic on Tooele’s Main Street. Part of the reason for the heavy traffic is the lack of through streets in town. Extending 1000 North to the west was a good start. Many of us get to the southwest part of town by taking 1000 North to 600 West, around to Rogers Street, then taking 1000 West across the track, across Utah Avenue, and continuing on Aggie Avenue. This ceased on April 15 when the railroad crossing on 1000 West closed (“Residents upset about railroad crossing closure,” April 13). I called the number listed on the sign for more information. That crossing was scheduled to close 14 years ago. Well, 14 years ago very little of the city was north of the tracks. Today it would be reasonable to widen 1000 West and extend it to 2400 North. That would give improved access to the hospital and provide a through street all the way to Home Depot and Liddiards. Since this is not going to happen, more traffic will return to Main. All local traffic is influenced by a railroad track that doesn’t even have a siding for local business use and can only be crossed now by one of three ways: Droubay, Utah Avenue, or the overpass. When it comes to planning, Tooele City seems to be reactive rather than proactive. We shouldn’t be closing crossings. We should be creating more of them.

Barbara Vogel

Tooele