I am writing this letter for a project in our Swadeshi unit. Swadeshi means to support the local economy and culture because it is more resilient than a global economy and globalized culture. This letter is about the local economy and I was supposed to find one issue that was wrong with my neighborhood. We were supposed to find three things and explain why they were a problem and how they could be fixed. I was then supposed to choose the one that I found was the most important, which to me was about an exit off of Lakeshore Drive. It is the stop right by the zoo’s entrance and how there is always a very long wait at that exit because of the oncoming traffic. Here is the letter.


Dear Ms. Alderman,

Hello I am James Curcio from the school Global Citizenship Experience High School. I composed this letter to you to tell you about the stop off Lakeshore Drive right by the zoo’s entrance and how there is always a very long wait at that exit because of the oncoming traffic.

I see this problem almost everyday when I go by there to go fishing ,when I drive through the stop and I also hear friends and family complaining about it. To me this seems like a long wait to have just to get off of the highway. Sometimes it takes me five to ten minutes to get off here. I do not see this issue at any other stops, which means it can be fixed.

The effects that this problem causes are numerous including environmental hazards and people’s moods. The main issue I think that this poses is that people are late to work, because they do not adjust their schedule. This jam creates them to be angry the rest of the day which means they are unlikely to help the local economy by going out to dinner or working to their best capability. Another issue is that it is a threat to people who are crossing the street and in their cars. The pedestrians have to be daring to cross the street here because all of the cars are driving unusually dangerously to get out of this stop, which means that they have the potential of getting hit. It is dangerous for the cars because if they are not driving cautiously they may crash and injure themselves. It also Is terrible pollution wise because it makes cars sit idling around creating air pollution. Finally it forces the drivers to purchase more fuel which makes money get sent away out of the local economy which is bad for the city.

I have come up with a few ways that this problem could be fixed. You could put in stoplights, which would create a better flow. Another thing that you could do is by putting up stop signs for both sides so that way people could get off easier. What I believe to be the best way is to construct another bridge at this stop for the cars coming off that would connect a little farther up the road.

This stop was a large issue to me because it poses many different types of threats including large ones like the environment, wasted money on fuel, and people being late. If fixed this would create a much safer and healthier community, which would make people in general more joyous. This would boost the local economy because people would not be giving their money to major companies and would be instead spending it on items from the neighborhood. Thank you for listening.

Sincerely,

JC