Drop the lighting ceremony

I am writing about the traffic during the Christmas Lighting Festivals. We live here, and enjoy the town with all its lights.  However, we have experienced, this last year, the difficulty of traveling out of town, or trying to get back into town at the time the lights go on, and after. It is next to impossible.

Now, here is my concern. The lights come on right around 5:00, and all those cars then hit the roads. I have thought a lot about if someone should need medical assistance in their home, or if there was a house fire, how would the aid vehicles or fire trucks get through the tangled mess of traffic. Would the city be liable for the clog of traffic as the result of the Lighting? More than concern for the city, I have concern for the people that might need help.

A solution would be to simply have the lights on all day, without the lighting ceremony.  I know this sounds kind of radical, however it could be a solution to a possible devastating event. And, I believe people would still come to enjoy the lights and town, but without the mass exodus at 5 p.m.

I would like this to be seriously considered. Can the Chamber of Commerce address this problem? Sure hope so.

Adele Juvet-Fuhrer

Leavenworth