I.C. school scenario will boost I-80 dangers

I am strongly against scenario 4F for Iowa City school redistricting.

Every day I travel from my home in northwest Coralville to downtown Iowa City for work. I have seen semi-truck wheels rolled up the side of a car trying to merge onto I-80. I have seen cars forced to merge on the bridge over the river and or come to a complete stop on the ramp - all of this, without new high school aged drivers in the mix.

To enter I-80 eastbound from First Avenue requires more driving skill than almost any other location in our area. Almost daily, drivers increase speed on the on-ramp and look left to find the place to merge between semi-trailers, someone ahead slows to a crawl or stops, making a dangerous situation worse.

Advocates of 4F say people will use Oakdale and Lincolnshire to get to Dubuque Street and then take Dubuque south to town. They won't; it takes longer, is less direct, and will still be when Oakdale is complete. Everyone west of First Avenue in Coralville – a huge chunk of the Wickham/North Central Junior High population - will take I-80. If advocates of 4F traveled eastbound from First Avenue daily, or even only 180 times a year as school students would, I wager they wouldn't be advocates at all.

Wendy Ford

Coralville