Keep 7-Mile Section of Mulholland Unpaved

* The seven-mile section of unpaved Mulholland is less than 20 feet wide in most places. The view to the north is of the San Fernando Valley. The view to the south is chaparral hillside and canyons. Paving of Mulholland would require blasting out hillsides and filling in deep ravines with unstable fill at an outrageous cost, and for what?

There are thousands of paved roads in Los Angeles that overlook far more scenic vistas--Las Virgenes Canyon, Kanan or Stunt Road, just to name a few. Big Sky Park offers one of the best views, especially for non-hikers or riders. This park also allows for the

least-physically fit individuals to walk a minimal distance and get an introduction to the chaparral community’s plants and animals.

And like those other paved roads, if Mulholland could be paved, how many people would actually stop to look at the Valley? Those who benefit from its paving would indeed be commuters and land-use developers. A few drawbacks are that paving would increase water runoff, accelerating erosion and provide easy access for arsonists.

Not paving Mulholland gives just seven miles where families and friends can walk and ride side by side, without having to venture into the more treacherous fire roads and single-track paths. There are seven miles where those taxpayers don’t have to worry about vehicles racing by, a place essentially free of trash.

You may hear the argument that the taxpayers have a right of way to every road. Yet there are lots of accepted restrictions on road use.

Paving of the seven-mile dirt stretch of Mulholland would be a sad loss to recreation, an unjustifiable cost to taxpayers, a meaningless destruction of wildlife just for the sake of building a road to someplace else.

KAREN E. ROY

Van Nuys