Reading the Sept. 26 Columbian story, “Offramp leads to frustration for family,” one must feel for the Dodge family with respect to the location of their home relative to right of way of the new St. Johns interchange offramp. Many would believe there should be a more reasonable buffer zone, as part of the cost, established between road improvements and private dwellings during planning stages for any major road project. Implementation of these plans, in my opinion, should include offers of outright purchase of impacted private properties near the right of way.
With respect to the plight of the Dodge family, even without a noise-affected autistic child in the family, I find it difficult to believe that any homeowner would not be impacted by traffic on a nearby offramp. The photo appearing in the Sept. 26 edition of The Columbian indicates traffic flow within 30 feet of the house. This is unacceptable and a way needs to be found to provide relief to the family up to and including outright purchase of their property.
Gary Andersen
Vancouver
