To the editor:

It is not difficult to picture letter writer Charlotte Mason of Grantwood Village wringing her hands and messing up her knitting while thinking about the possibility of a MetroLink expansion actually coming near to where she lives.

Instead of her rocking away on the front porch listening to the birds, she might hear a transit car every 15 minutes. Imagine that vehicle traveling 55 mph — why it probably will stampede the Clydesdales; that is why it is called “rapid” transit.

Most places find the attractive rail cars to be charming and a welcome relief to the neighborhood.

How will Grant’s Farm change as a result of a possible nearby station? They probably will advertise the ease someone downtown can come to the farm and not pay for parking.

She just knows that the hooligans that cause the highest crime rate in the nation will be riding out to her house to recreate the same. I’m sure she has all of the clippings where we can read of robbers carrying their booty, including 32-inch TVs, on MetroLink; the number of kidnappers using the rails is zero.

She is upset that a Park-n-Ride lot will have space for 100 cars. Lady, the point is that your fellow citizens can drive to the lot to use the rails, thus reducing traffic congestion and improving air quality. One hundred spaces is not nearly enough.

The real problem is that she is a NIMBY — Not In My Back Yard. She lives just a short drive from Westfield Shoppingtown Crestwood and for her Clayton is a short jaunt through Webster Groves and Brentwood and can dash up Interstate 170 to the airport. I live in Oakville and have found Clayton to be an hour away because our gutless county executives did not have the courage to logically push I-170 south to Interstate 55 for the common good.

It is unfortunate that the cost of MetroLink expansion is so high, but a major reason is the lack of planning decades ago.

I have traveled the world and found there is no major city without a rapid transit system.

Poor Charlotte. We can be sure she would be screaming if anyone suggested that four-lane Tesson Ferry/Highway 21 be extended via South Rock Hill Road through Grantwood Village to ultimately connect with Interstate 44.

I am sure that she would have a cow like the NIMBYs on Baptist Church Road and Butler Hill Road did when it was suggested that “their” roads be widened for the good of all taxpayers.

Mark Lord

Oakville