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An open letter to Nancy Stahoviak and Doug Monger - I live on Routt County Road 36 and would like you two to hear of the immediate effects I have seen since your decision to widen C.R. 36.

I returned on the evening of July 8 from a six-day trip. As I drove from Amethyst onto C.R. 36, I chuckled at how well both those lines looked, but before I got past Perry-Mansfield I had been passed by someone going between 55 and 60 mph. When I got home there was a box by my back door that contained the remains of the family cat, which had been hit that morning on C.R. 36. Stuff like this happens but, there were no skid marks, the cat was hit in the middle of the road, and, just a hunch here, I think that person may have been going just a wee bit over 35 mph. Finally, as I retrieved my morning paper Wednesday morning, a guy who lives up the road blew past in his Corvette doing at least 70 to 80 mph.

So, in the roughly 12 hours I had been home, I witnessed firsthand how the widening of C.R. 36 has made it one of the safest driving, jogging and biking roads in all of the county. You should be proud of your accomplishment.

As a past member of the Steamboat Springs Planning Commission, I know that it was not my opinion that mattered, but rather what the majority of the people affected by my decision thought. I often voted against my personal beliefs because of what the majority thought. This is something called the democratic process. I learned it in the fourth grade. When this whole issue arose a couple of weeks ago, you both listened to a number of people - in fact a majority, I believe - who live on or near C.R. 36 tell you that speeding and lack of patrol was the real problem on the road. People told you that making the road wider is only going to exacerbate the problem. Did you listen to anyone? The response I saw was to drop off one of those automated radar signs for a day. Just a hint, but those work better when you have a deputy with them.

I am a multiuser of this road. I drive the road daily, bike, jog, and my family rides horses on it, so I am not in support of any one group, but rather, safety. This will not be a safe road for anyone until the speed limit is enforced. It is not a matter of if, but when, someone is going to be killed by a speeder. Widening the lines will only serve to increase the speed of vehicles on this road, making it even less safe for everyone involved. When someone does get killed, who are you going to point your finger at?

Leon Rinck

Steamboat Springs