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To The Editor: 

Perhaps Walter Wood should check with the merchants before declaring a pedestrian presence undesirable in their neighborhood (July 27-28, 2002). Even those who drive to one shop might need to cross a street to get to another. We should discourage this? 

A more troubling oversight is that in refusing light-assisted crossings at major streets near minor streets, you force commuting non-cars to use major streets. For example, San Pablo, Ashby, MLK, and Shattuck have major stretches where you need to be on a major street to get across. Easing the flow of traffic should not refer only to cars; it can benefit both sides. More user-activated lights such as the one at Channing and MLK could mean fewer cyclists and pedestrians on your major streets. 

Barbara Judd 

Berkeley