By LYNN HANRAHAN
Los Alamos

The traffic diet on Trinity makes me happy. 

A long time ago I used to walk to work and back from Gold Street to the old Schools’ Headquarters. I usually cut down through the middle by the apartments and orthodontic office and passed by what’s now the Reel Deal.  Taking the sidewalk was always scary, especially in inclement weather. The first time I saw the current striping I was happy something had finally been done.

But now maybe it will be undone. Drivers in a hurry must have their way. Pedestrians be damned! How many pedestrians have been injured and killed over the past few decades? Too many. Too many cyclists, too. My personal pet peeve in this regard is how now practically no one stops for pedestrians at the old crosswalk by the Post.  If you could trust one thing in life, it was that drivers would yield to pedestrians in this one sacred spot – but not anymore.

Everyone pays lip service to the importance of walking, cycling, using public transportation but when push comes to shove, we’re spoiled brats. Look at all the cars at the High School. It’s truly sickening. Of course, we speak of climate change but give in to the pressure that kids need their own private gas guzzler so they can drive out to lunch. Who needs a planet anyway?

The Canyon Road construction won’t last forever. Last time it was done was when my oldest was a newborn in the late winter and spring of 1999. We lived on Gold Street and the beeping trucks made naptime impossible. What was funny though was that the baby got so used to all the beeping that he couldn’t sleep when the project ended. We really do learn to adjust – don’t we?

Could we perhaps accept a bit of inconvenience for the sake of a healthier, safer, greener tomorrow?  Nothing lasts forever.