Editor, Smithfield Times

In response to “This is the future” written by Mr. Reid Lundie:

The traffic has been like this since before Bojangles was built. I started visiting the area in 2007 and I believe the traffic count at the intersection of Smith’s Neck and Carrollton Boulevard in 2005 was 25,000 cars per day.

The Carrollton area that lines Carrollton Boulevard was long ago designated as a business district, and this is where the growth was happening, and we are now seeing a bit more. Thank goodness. If we all look back it was not too long ago that we had a shooting, resulting in some fatalities in Sonic’s parking lot. We had the credit union robbed in the Food Lion lot and we had three other restaurants robbed as well long before any of this new development had or is taking place.

As the owner and operator of the Bojangles, it is very unfortunate that we were robbed, but had my management been aware and alert that evening, we would not have been robbed, and thank goodness no one was injured. There was no break-in, no forced entry. We let them in due to not paying attention. The new development did not play a role in this, nor does it play a role in the traffic. The traffic and robberies have been going on and will continue.

And let’s be conscious of the crime that goes on in the rest of the county — steeling vehicles, breaking and entry, damaging property, stealing older citizens money from them, theft, shootings and assaults, along with child abuse, animal neglect and torture.

The point is, we all drive to and from work, and most people get to and out of work at the same time. We all have to cross bridges or go through tunnels to get home. And every town and city area has bad guys. It is just a fact of living in our world as it is, but let’s not place all of the blame on the supervisors. These guys did not design the current business districts and Ann Seward, I hope, is finally trying to get the bills paid so we do not have to keep selling our county’s proverbial soul in bonds just to keep things running.

Bill Kessler
Carrollton