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Canberra Today 14°/18° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Letters / Griffins didn’t see the traffic lights coming

WALTER and Marion Griffin designed Northbourne Avenue NOT to have traffic lights. The traffic lights that have been installed since 1965 have to spend extra time being red, simply to allow time for traffic to cross the wide median as it clears the intersection.

Marion Mahoney Griffin, right, with husband Walter.
Marion Mahoney Griffin, right, with husband Walter.

This reduces traffic flow, and causes a disproportionate increase in congestion delays. Pedestrians who make the 45-second walk across Northbourne Avenue have to spend up to three extra minutes waiting at pedestrian signals. This discourages walking and creates a commercial divide between east and west Civic.

If Walter and Marion had anticipated traffic signals, they would have avoided these problems by putting the road down the middle of Northbourne Avenue, and the parks along the sides. That would have the added bonus of making several hectares of public parkland accessible from sidewalk cafes.

None of Canberra’s major parties offers a vision that addresses this problem. Under the Liberal plan it will remain possible to give Northbourne Avenue a sensible layout. But by building light rail down the centre of Northbourne Avenue, Labor and the Greens will prevent this for another 40 years.

Leon Arundell, Downer

Walter not Burley

IN Nichole Overall’s column about Queanbeyan’s birthday (CN, September 22) a slight correction is required. She mentions Mr Burley Griffin, but it should be Mr Walter Griffin. It’s an easy mistake, given the lake is named after Burley Griffin. Perhaps there’s a follow up on the stuff up in using Griffin’s middle name instead of his first.

Ron Jenkins, via email

Use for election signs

WHILE it’s still far too early to plant tomatoes, it’s an ideal time to lay in stocks of tomato stakes, but I’m not quite sure what to do with the corflute, maybe for raised veggie beds? At least it would help reduce the (election) visual pollution that is a blot on the landscape at present!

Cedric Bryant, Watson

Upset by Dougal’s review

I VISITED Canberra last week and read your magazine in my hotel room and enjoyed it until I read the review for “Bridget Jones’s Baby” by Dougal Macdonald.

I cannot believe that a reviewer would give away the ending of a movie and spoil it for everyone.

I saw the film last Monday and was crying with laughter it was so funny.

I think Dougal is not the sort of person to review a film like this as he is the only one who has given it a low rating.

Valerie Hobbs, via email

Stroke message getting through

WITH Stroke Week now wrapped up for 2016, it is vital we remember strokes don’t just happen one week of the year. Every 10 minutes an Australian has a stroke. Every 10 minutes someone’s life changes forever.

Stroke is shockingly common in Australia. Yet despite the devastation it causes, this disease is largely unrecognised by the broader community – until it happens to a loved one, a friend or a colleague.

Stroke doesn’t have to be a death sentence, it is treatable but people need to know the signs of stroke and get to hospital fast. Every stroke is a medical emergency.

Thanks to our incredible supporters, we were able to spread this message far and wide this Stroke Week, reaching a record number of Australians. But our work doesn’t stop here – it is our mission to stop stroke, save lives and end the suffering caused by this devastating disease.

It will take the combined efforts of the community, health professionals and governments to achieve this mission. I know together we can prevent, treat and beat stroke.

Sharon McGowan, Stroke Foundation CEO, Melbourne

 

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Ian Meikle, editor

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