Lights not right action
The fast-developing Thurgoona corridor must be a booming rates cash-cow for the Albury City Council, however it seems little of the revenue returns to the area.
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As for the latest revelation, traffic lights in lieu of a dual-lane roundabout at the intersection of Thurgoona Drive and Elizabeth Mitchell Drive, I agree with Councillor John Stuchbery's statement regarding poorly thought planning and outcomes with traffic lights throughout Albury. This poor planning however is not isolated to traffic lights or Albury.
In the first instance is the installation of traffic lights at the afore-mentioned location really a consideration of longevity, or is it capital expenditure? Dual-lane roundabouts work well elsewhere. The traffic congestion problem occurs school-term wise five days a week, and is twice daily for some 20-minute period. This situation certainly needs to be addressed, however how will the timing cycle of traffic lights alleviate the burden of such heavy traffic in these short periods? At all other times traffic is free-flowing in all directions. The installation of traffic lights creates traffic stoppages 24/7 with its dangers. Hardly a wonderful outcome for residents of Thurgoona.
The other poorly thought instance is the second attempt planning debacle at the Thurgoona Drive and Shuter Avenue entrance/exit at Thurgoona Plaza. The Albury City Council are aware of this, however apparently significant resident inconvenience is deemed acceptable. Add this to the risky lack of slip lanes at busy residential exit/entries in Thurgoona Drive which includes the Thurgoona Country Club Resort with its exit/entry traffic. It is reasonable that the residents of Thurgoona have every right to question council vision applied to their interests.
Peter Dent, Thurgoona
Voting disgrace
On Saturday my family, which includes my elderly mother, who uses a walking frame and is partially blind, and my son who is wheelchair bound went to Galvin Hall to vote. After taking our turn in line we found that the only entry to the hall was via a set of stairs. Neither my mum nor my son are able to navigate stairs, so we ended up having to take two electoral officers away from their duties to come outside where my mother and son had to vote at the foot of the stairs affording them no privacy to be able to vote and leaving my son feeling very uncomfortable and embarrassed.
While I thank all the volunteers and candidates who went looking for a ramp and then arranged for the electoral officials to come outside, (with one of then actually having to kneel on the ground) I am just astounded that in 2019 this could happen. Surely when selecting voting centres, access should be one of the major considerations.
I noticed a number of elderly people, also using walking frames or canes trying with great difficulty to manage the stairs, with one man almost falling down. In this day and age I think this is a disgraceful situation.
Colleen Peffer, Wodonga
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