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Heart set on helping out By Goya Dmytryshchak About two years ago, at 52 years of age, Veronica Tennant was seemingly in great health. Two days earlier, the Newport woman had completed the 600 kilometre Great Victorian Bike Ride. But, while having lunch with a friend she felt a pain she rated as a seven out of 10. “I wasn’t too concerned – [I’d] just completed this great event, I was strong as an ox,” Ms Tennant recalls. “Then I said, look, it’s a bit odd, it’s not gone away after a couple of hours.” Ms Tennant went to her GP who sent her to a hospital ED “just in case”. “I was feeling like such a fake, I was saying, look, it’s just a funny old chest pain but it can’t be serious. “Lo and behold, after a couple of tests and a blood test they said, ‘Well, you’re having a heart attack’.” Ms Tennant had what is known as a SCAD – Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection – which happens to many women around times of hormone change such as menopause, pregnancy and child birth. During a SCAD heart attack, a sudden tear happens within the layers of one or more arteries to the heart, blocking blood flow, which can lead to cardiac arrest or sometimes death. It is the No.1 cause of heart attack in women under 50 and in women who are pregnant and new mothers. Ms Tennant is taking part in the third annual Melbourne SCADaddle, a five kilometre walk around Albert Park Lake on Sunday, September 15, to raise funds for SCAD Research. Details: www.scadresearch.com.au or follow SCAD Research on Facebook or Twitter
Seble Girma, Daniel Lewdu, Semira Yemenu and Dagi Tesfu. (Supplied)
Coffee, culture and festivities Ethiopia’s rich cultural traditions will be on show when the Ethiopian New Year Festival bursts into life in Footscray this Saturday. Celebrating its 14th year, the festival is expected to attract hundreds of people to the Nicholson Street Mall to enjoy music, dance, fashion and traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremonies. Ethiopian Community Association in Victoria president Adamu Tefera said the festival offers an opportunity for people from all backgrounds to learn more about Ethiopian culture, particularly its unique music and dance. “This event is very important for our community as it evokes strong feelings of acceptance and belonging,” he said. The Ethiopian New Year Festival will be held in the Nicholson Street Mall from 11am-6pm on Saturday. Veronica Tennant will take part in the third annual Melbourne SCADaddle. (Joe Mastroianni)
Benjamin Millar
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UPDATE ON THE WEST GATE TUNNEL PROJECT The West Gate Tunnel Project is entering an exciting phase, with preparations continuing for tunnelling. The first Tunnel Boring Machine, Bella, will bore the longer 4-kilometre outbound tunnel. This tunnel starts at Yarraville and heads south-west towards the West Gate Freeway near South Kingsville. The new tunnel will link the West Gate Freeway near Williamstown Road to the port and the city. Bella will tunnel about nine metres a day, and tunnelling will take about 18 months. To allow tunnelling to begin, there has been another important milestone achieved – the moving of the North Yarra Main Sewer that ran below the centre of Whitehall Street in Footscray and Yarraville. Diverting the sewer protects it from tunnelling and prevents disruptions to essential services. After a year closed, Whitehall street will be reopened to traffic. The widening of the West Gate Freeway to provide four extra through lanes is well underway, and will soon involve the replacement of two pedestrian bridges at Rosala Avenue, Altona North, and Muir Street, Spotswood. Installation will start in the coming months, in preparation for opening before the end of the year. The first of 14 kilometres of new noise walls are being installed at Crofts Reserve, Altona North, so that nearby residents and the thousands of people who use the important reserve will be protected from the noise from the 200,000 vehicles that use the West Gate Freeway every day. In total, about 4000 new noise wall panels will be installed along the West Gate Freeway, making a significant difference for the community. The noise walls will be installed progressively along the freeway over the next few years. Nearer to the city, on Footscray Road, we have shifted westbound traffic onto new temporary traffic lanes so that we can start building a construction site down the middle of Footscray Road and get to work on the elevated road that will run above it, connecting the tunnel to the port, city and CityLink. Translation service – For languages other than English, please call 13 14 50. Please contact us if you would like this information in an accessible format. If you need assistance because of a hearing or speech impairment, please visit relayservice.gov.au
8 MARIBYRNONG & HOBSONS BAY STAR WEEKLY \ SEPTEMBER 4, 2019
Artist impression of the new road over Footscray Road linking the tunnel to the city.
There is a lot happening around the project with periodic road closures and traffic disruptions, so stay in touch with what is happening in your area. Visit westgatetunnelproject.vic.gov.au/traveldisruptions, and follow facebook.com/westgatetunnelproject for regular updates.
Improving connections The West Gate Tunnel Project is building more than a tunnel. The project will link the west of the city to the port, the city and CityLink. A bridge over the Maribyrnong River will connect the tunnel to the city through links connecting to Dynon Road, Footscray Road and an extension from Wurundjeri Way. The new roads will better connect Melbourne's freeway network, giving people from the west another way to get to the city, hospitals and the universities in the north of the city.
CONTACT US info@wgta.vic.gov.au 1800 105 105
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