A good Ike rallying cry: 'No wider ditch'

"No wider ditch," you said in last week's editorial [Pedal to the metal, Our Views, Viewpoints, June 13]. I've never before heard that rallying cry in relation to the Eisenhower expansion. I like it.

Adding two more lanes feels inevitable; widening the ditch does not. Trying to stop the expansion feels like trying to hold back the sea. Our society is not ready to scale back or limit automobile use in any way. Someday, maybe, but not now.

However, limiting the new lanes to the existing ditch feels like a battle worth waging and a fight Oak Park is capable of winning. Let's not waste energy trying to stop the expansion but rather spend time and money working toward a solution that best meets the needs of the residents of Oak Park. Sound barriers, better amenities for cyclists and pedestrians at the Harlem and Austin crossings, perhaps a modest cap — these are all things that can offset the damage done by the ditch.

Let's fight for those things and stick to a reasonable rallying cry: "No wider ditch."

Karl Lauger
Oak Park