Jonathan Crimmins bemoans the fate of drivers like himself who are forced to wait on the Mill Street portion of Route 1 as it approaches Pleasant St (The Times Record, page A4, July 18).

He seems to attribute this slowing to the new “no turn on red” light installed last fall at the intersection of Mill and Pleasant. He appears to give no credit for this slowing to the fact that just prior to this intersection, Route 1 South traffic moves from a four-lane, controlled access highway to a two- lane town road with multiple uncontrolled entries, exits and crosswalks.

Of course traffic slows, especially in summer, and particularly at what goes for ‘ rush hour’ in these parts. Sure, it is annoying to wait. But it sounds like Mr. Crimmins prefers the good old days when (using his words) the yield sign at Mill and Pleasant was “little more than a suggestion” but “at least the traffic flowed though.”

The new configuration (the red light at Mill and Pleasant for short intervals) was installed to allow drivers from Stanwood Street to turn onto Route 1 South without taking their lives in their hands.

What Mr. Crimmins may not have taken the time to consider is that those of us who live in what I will loosely call “ West Brunswick” have only three options for getting home from downtown.

The first is an option I am sure he would not enjoy: We could join the throng on Route 1, entering by the mill, which would delay him even further. Another option would be for us to drive all the way to Church Road and use the light there to get on Pleasant Street, which would create a similar bottleneck at Church Road and Pleasant, not to mention create a traffic tie-up of similar proportions on McKeen Street where it meets Church. The third and only other option is the one most of us take, which is to use Stanwood Street.

I wish Mr. Crimmins’ route regularly had taken him down Stanwood before the light was installed. He then would have experienced how terrifying it was to try to make that turn while cars barely slowed down and instead began to pick up speed at the “ suggestion” yield sign, cutting us off as we were trying to make our turn on our green light.

Those exiting Stanwood Street needing to use the businesses on Pleasant between Mill and River Road require getting into that right lane immediately. Those turning onto River Road require the same. With a steady traffic flow from the “suggestion” yield sign, that was next to impossible. I think if Mr. Crimmins had experienced this danger several times a week, he might have more understanding of the need for a light at Mill and Pleasant.

Mr. Crimmins, and those others who are frustrated by the wait: I am, too, when I come home via Route 1 from Bath and beyond. But please be aware that it is not a simple fix.

DOT will not solve all problems by removing the light. It will take more than a simple state road fix to solve the traffic woes at this intersection. Town and state will have to collaborate mightily to mitigate this mess. To the extent it is even possible to do so, it will take a long time.

Meanwhile, it might be good for everyone to learn to be a bit more patient in order for us all to be safe.

Mike Rosenzweig lives in Brunswick.