Letters to the Editor

Beware this dangerous intersection

To the editor:

The new traffic lights at the intersection of Ste. Catherine, Dorchester and Clarke have certainly speeded things up. They have eliminated a delay eastbound on Dorchester by switching to green at the same time as the Ste. Catherine light, but in another respect they may have speeded things up a bit too much.

If you're headed west on Dorchester and want to turn left onto Ste. Catherine, you very often find yourself on a collision course with cars speeding south on Clarke, headed straight for eastbound Dorchester. I've seen three near misses myself and I don't doubt they're a common occurrence.

There is a flashing green light for cars intending to turn left onto Ste. Catherine. It blocks the southbound traffic on Clarke with a red light, but it comes at the end of the cycle. If it came at the beginning, things would be a whole lot safer, with fewer near misses and collisions, and much of the speeding traffic on Clarke would be forced to slow down.

Matthew Cope

Somerville Avenue



Who owns the park?

To the editor:

Re "Save the Park's …very strong sense of ownership" (Mayor Marks, Nov. 15): Have you noticed the trees along Westmount Park bicycle path lately — how old and frail they are looking? They've overheard people asking whose property they are on. In their ignorance, they assumed it belonged to the schoolchildren who play there all the time.

Here's a simple experiment: As you walk by, just think — you don't have to say anything — 'clear cut', 'timber yard', or 'death row', and watch their reaction. If there's no wind, take your Geiger counter. This is the question everyone's asking: Who owns the park, and can they do anything they like with it?"

David Fielding

Academy Road