Interchange for Casino

* Re “Davis Proposes Interchange Near Casino,” June 7:

There is not now, never has been and likely never will be a congestion of traffic on Interstate 10 because of the Indian casino and other businesses at Cabazon. This is the area that was reported to require the expenditure of some $30 million, as proposed by Gov. Gray Davis.

I drive from Palm Springs to Los Angeles and back again twice a week. The Morongo casino parking lot at Cabazon is full. The outlet stores’ parking lots are full. But there are no traffic jams from or onto I-10 because of these and other businesses.

If the governor wishes to prevent an already-occurring traffic mess, he should see to it that the state’s truck weighing stations at Banning are redesigned to get long lines of waiting 18-wheelers off the highway and onto side roads.

If the Indians want to help their patrons, then why don’t they build train stations at Cabazon (Palm Springs already has one that is new but not used), Bob Hope Drive, Twentynine Palms and Indio. Then the governor can use his money and influence to get fast train service to the Coachella Valley from Los Angeles, reduce traffic and help everyone.

WILLIAM J. GRAVESMILL

Palm Springs

*

I like to play poker at the Morongo Indian casino in Cabazon, but give me a break--$30 million for a new interchange? Is Gov. Davis out of his donation-loving mind? The only traffic that backs up regularly (four or five times a year according to the CHP) at Cabazon is the tumbleweeds on a windy day.

Your article says the governor’s “plan is aimed at easing gridlock by directing money where it is most needed.” If that were the case, why not direct it to education, where the need is even greater. I don’t mind a little traffic to play a few hands of poker, but I do care about our teachers’ low pay.

DAVID L. RUGGERI

Anaheim