As I and other citizens now benefit from an added 20 minutes to my commutes on East Lake Sammamish Parkway, including Saturday, I have the benefit of more time to enjoy the Lake.

I also get to see the back up and the drivers waiting to get by on the other side.

Last week, I was sure the city council would be glad to see that at 3:30 p.m. there was a back up from Ingelwood Hill all the way north to 35th Street.

The benefit of being in a standstill is that people can now benefit from the “calming” effect – I saw at least two of the drivers asleep at the wheel – we also save gas as many motorists turn off their cars.

Now I read that the city plans to extend the hours of closing a lane for our benefit but that construction time will stay the same, meaning the project is already behind schedule and we are now asked to bear more traffic commute delays on the parkway.

We have now pushed traffic delays also to Sahalee/228th (this was to Firehouse 1.5 miles) as the traffic patterns try to, in greater numbers, leave the city via this access.

The irony of this is that after more than 18 years of this, and $45 million (do not be surprised if it hits $90 million for the three miles of work) there will be no savings on commute time when the project is over.

Nor will there be the opened views or buried wires that citizens asked for.

If calming is what the city council sought they only achieved it in the drivers who fell asleep.

In this time when schools are slashing teachers, and higher priority projects are cut, we should not be wasting our money on misguided projects with no benefit like the East Lake Sammamish Parkway Project, while hindering citizens’ commutes for more than 18 years.

Ramiro Valderrama

Sammamish