The following formal submission have been made public
Submitter: David RobertsRaising of London Circuit
The proposal to remove the Vernon Loops and I imagine the Flynn loops at a later stage in favour of traffic lights should be rejected on several grounds.
1. These loops were designed by competent NCDC traffic engineers 60 years ago with the sole purpose of providing safe exit and entry onto and off Commonwealth Bridge with the minimum disruption of traffic. Having lived here for over 50 years I don’t think there has ever been a serious accident involving traffic using these loops.
2. Adelaide avenue, Commonwealth Bridge and Northbourne Avenue is the main northbound route to Sydney for residents of Canberra’s inner city souther suburbs. The ACT government’s proposal will add 30 to 40 minutes time getting these suburbs to the outskirts of Canberra and on towards Sydney.
3. Based on the statistics for many of Canberra’s major traffic light intersections, converting the Vernon loops to a traffic lights will (a) add unnecessary traffic delays; (b) numerous minor bingles on a weekly basis; (c) more serious bingles on a monthly basis possibly requiring a tow truck especially in wet weather; and (d) more serious accidents on a yearly basis possibly requiring the attendance of an ambulance. This will be because a free flowing traffic intersection has been changed to a bottleneck and the likelihood of “red-light runners”. To argue that red-light runners should follow the road rules is to ignore the everyday evidence of the amount of cars, truck, utes running red lights and having near misses. Whose conscience will it be on when the first person gets killed if this intersection is changed to traffic lights. Changing the Flynn Place loops will be even more risky as the junction will be approached at a higher speed and downhill from Commonwealth Bridge.
4. The route for the tram is illogical and only requires removal of Vernon Place loops for the sole purpose of building more high rise building around Capitol Hill and thus totally spoiling the Walter Burley Griffin concept of the view from City Hill. Logically the tram route could have proceeded directly south from the current terminus, through a culvert in City Hill which could be covered over and regrassed and the flag pole re-erected, straight down Commonwealth Avenue, across the Bridge by spanning the middle section and on towards Adelaide avenue.
5. If the NCA approves this decision one wonders what the purpose of the NCA is. It should be there to respect the National Capital and protect from the ravages and stupidity of the ACT government who have turned a beautiful garden city, when I came here in 1972, into a concrete wasteland with no gardens, no trees and no parks and a total lack of integrated planning of high rise apartments.
6. Even before this abomination starts, it is virtually impossible to get from the Northern suburbs, across the Bridge to the inner southern suburbs. This proposal will essentially divide the north side of the lake from the suburbs on the south side for months.
7. The NCA should reject this idiotic proposal on the grounds that it will ruin the lake vista, spoil Walter Burley Griffin’s concept for a National Capital and just turn the main north south thoroughfare into a parking lot.
1. These loops were designed by competent NCDC traffic engineers 60 years ago with the sole purpose of providing safe exit and entry onto and off Commonwealth Bridge with the minimum disruption of traffic. Having lived here for over 50 years I don’t think there has ever been a serious accident involving traffic using these loops.
2. Adelaide avenue, Commonwealth Bridge and Northbourne Avenue is the main northbound route to Sydney for residents of Canberra’s inner city souther suburbs. The ACT government’s proposal will add 30 to 40 minutes time getting these suburbs to the outskirts of Canberra and on towards Sydney.
3. Based on the statistics for many of Canberra’s major traffic light intersections, converting the Vernon loops to a traffic lights will (a) add unnecessary traffic delays; (b) numerous minor bingles on a weekly basis; (c) more serious bingles on a monthly basis possibly requiring a tow truck especially in wet weather; and (d) more serious accidents on a yearly basis possibly requiring the attendance of an ambulance. This will be because a free flowing traffic intersection has been changed to a bottleneck and the likelihood of “red-light runners”. To argue that red-light runners should follow the road rules is to ignore the everyday evidence of the amount of cars, truck, utes running red lights and having near misses. Whose conscience will it be on when the first person gets killed if this intersection is changed to traffic lights. Changing the Flynn Place loops will be even more risky as the junction will be approached at a higher speed and downhill from Commonwealth Bridge.
4. The route for the tram is illogical and only requires removal of Vernon Place loops for the sole purpose of building more high rise building around Capitol Hill and thus totally spoiling the Walter Burley Griffin concept of the view from City Hill. Logically the tram route could have proceeded directly south from the current terminus, through a culvert in City Hill which could be covered over and regrassed and the flag pole re-erected, straight down Commonwealth Avenue, across the Bridge by spanning the middle section and on towards Adelaide avenue.
5. If the NCA approves this decision one wonders what the purpose of the NCA is. It should be there to respect the National Capital and protect from the ravages and stupidity of the ACT government who have turned a beautiful garden city, when I came here in 1972, into a concrete wasteland with no gardens, no trees and no parks and a total lack of integrated planning of high rise apartments.
6. Even before this abomination starts, it is virtually impossible to get from the Northern suburbs, across the Bridge to the inner southern suburbs. This proposal will essentially divide the north side of the lake from the suburbs on the south side for months.
7. The NCA should reject this idiotic proposal on the grounds that it will ruin the lake vista, spoil Walter Burley Griffin’s concept for a National Capital and just turn the main north south thoroughfare into a parking lot.