Editor, Gazette-Journal:

I went to the meeting this past Tuesday afternoon presented by the Mathews Main Street Committee about plans for improving Main Street. Quite frankly, after looking at the plans with all the bump-outs the committee wants, I do not think this is a well thought-out plan.

With the bump-outs in place, the roadway is 26 feet wide; that is 13 feet per lane, which in my opinion is a bit narrow for a long semi tractor-trailer, a fire truck, a cement truck or a logging truck, not to mention large RVs. The bump-outs are as wide as a parked car. If Mathews Court House were a crowded urban area, the streets would be filled with parked cars; however, this is not the case. Main Street is largely empty, which gives all drivers more room to get out of the way of very large vehicles. We do not need bump-outs, but we do need better sidewalks.

On another subject—flooding—I was involved in a conversation about floodgates and the fact that storm drain sewers that rem...