Dear Editor:

The light at the entrance to the new shopping center on Lakewood, just south of Alameda Street, seems to be red most of the time. It is now very difficult to travel south or north Lakewood Boulevard in the area near Alameda Street.

Residents are forced to take the side street just west of Lakewood through residential areas. At times the light is red and no cars are coming out of the shopping center, and no cars moving either north or south on Lakewood. We're all there stopped looking at each other for a good 5 minutes.

It takes about 15 minutes to get from Alameda Street to Imperial. Coming back is a nightmare also. Again, drivers are forced to drive side streets and avoid the mess on Lakewood Blvd.

This issue could be resolved by allowing traffic on Lakewood to flow most of the time, and decrease the time that is now being allowed for cars exiting the shopping center.

Long story short: a traffic study, and we don't need to pay millions to do this.

Humberto Landeros
Downey