I’m surprised that the Bellevue Reporter devoted an entire article to what Kemper Freeman, a wealthy shopping mall developer, thinks about rapid transit and transportation.

Everyone knows that Freeman is obsessed with blocking light rail to Bellevue and the Eastside. He filed a lawsuit to prevent Sound Transit from using the right-of-way on the I-90 bridge, which it needs to bring light rail to the Eastside. He took the lawsuit all the way to the state Supreme Court. (He lost.)

He also teamed up with that other renowned transportation expert, Tim Eyman, on an initiative that would block light rail on the I-90 bridge, as well as limiting highway tolling. (That lost, too.)

We are already nearly 40 years behind some places, like San Francisco and Washington, D.C., in building a fully functioning rapid transit system. That’s a big reason why our workers spend hours on their commutes, in gridlock judged some of the worst in the nation. We don’t need any more obstruction.

I am lucky to live and work in Bellevue so that I don’t have to endure those awful commutes. But I can’t wait to take light rail to see the Mariners, get to a concert at Jazz Alley or go shopping in Seattle.

Judy Ronningen

Bellevue