I got the shock of my life today (June 30). I was a bit upset about the mess that has been ocurring since last Friday on the I-5 to 320th Street west exit ramp. I had my wife call the city to whine and complain, which I knew would do no good at all.

Instead she got a nice response from city traffic engineer Rick Perez, who said he would try to help. He gave my wife the name of the person to contact at the Washington State Department of Transportation. She called there and again was greeted by a shock. Alex Vhang at WSDOT was very glad we called and seemed genuinly concerned about the problem. It had been taking 30 minutes to get from 288th Street to the top of the 320th Street ramp. Alex said he gets off work before 5 p.m., but he would watch the traffic cameras from home to see what was the problem. Today, when I came home, there were two WSDOT workers watching traffic and adjusting the light timers. Alex even sent us an email reply to let us know that he was fixing it personally. He said he worked with the city and thought it was fixed.

By the way, it only took about two minutes to make the distance from 288th Street to 320th Street today. This is what I pay taxes for: great customer service and caring helpful civil servants. Hats off to Alex Vhang, Rick Perez and all the good hands at the city and state. Thank you.

Kelly Martin, Federal Way