Letters to the editor: Ngongotaha congestion and assisted dying

A writer has suggested options for the congested Ngongotaha roundabout. Photo / Stephen Parker

I had a laughing fit after reading the article about the Government pumping money into easing the congestion at the Ngongotaha roundabout (News, February 29).

It's all about safety improvements which we know will mean more of those silly rope barriers or those shiny tin ones.

It won't address the problem of the roundabout. They will fiddle with it and waste huge amounts of money but it will still cause problems.

The first problem? The traffic backup through the Ngongotaha village past the rail line. Simple: a double lane coming out of Ngongotaha. The right side lane is a dedicated right-turn lane with a give way on it. The left side lane is a straight-through lane that merges with a lane coming in from the north that the right side lane has to give way to.

Of course, we'll need to teach drivers how to merge properly.

An easy and forever fix would be a one-lane flyover from the town side into Ngongotaha. This lane would come from the right-hand lane of a two-lane northbound out of Rotorua. The left side lane is a dedicated left-turn lane going north, merging with the right-side right-turn lane from Ngongotaha.

(Abridged)

Rod Petterson, Rotorua

Assisted dying bill needed

Thank you to the Rotorua Community Trust for the service of remembrance, which they hosted.

Sadly, not all deaths can be remembered as peaceful, despite the best palliative care, and my own mother was one.

She would have welcomed the passing of the End of Life Choice Act, which (in very limited circumstances) allows an application for assisted dying. The End of Life Choice Act is to be the subject of a binding referendum at our general election on September 19.

I would like the trust to consider its position if the referendum results in the act coming into force, and current polls suggest that it will.

Overseas, more and more end-of-life facilities are opting to provide a dignity sanctuary room, in which families can be with their loved one who has chosen to have their suffering ended under the End of Life Choice Act.

I hope Rotorua will eventually get one also. By the time they are ready to die, patients are in no condition to be moved. (Abridged)

Sue Reynolds, Tauranga

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