A VISITOR’S VIEWS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 187, 21 May 1938, Page 5

A VISITOR’S VIEWS

IMPROVEMENTS TO HIGHWAYS. SIR STENSON COOKE’S SUGGESTIONS. Suggestions for the improvement of New Zealand highways were made by Sir Stenson Cooke, general secretary of the Automobile Association of Great Britain, in an address at the weekly luncheon meeting of the Auckland Rotary Club. Sir Stenson stated that taking into consideration the population and the number of vehicles, he had been agreeably impressed with the Dominion’s roads.

“It appears to me that the time is not very far distant when you will have to consider some more adequate provision for traffic on the arterial outlets from your larger cities,” stated Sir Stenson. “The present highways permit only two lanes of traffic, and do not make sufficient provision for an additional lane of slow-moving vehicles. I can see a very real danger at week-ends and holida.ys when traffic becomes congested, where a slow driver will hold up a long line of cars the drivers of which are anxious to get ahead. You then have cars swerving to the wrong side to overtake and pass, vehicles cutting in and out of the line of traffic, and attendant dangers. Dual carriageways making provision for two or four lines of vehicles on each side of the highway are a feature of road construction in Europe and Great Britain. The attention of roading authorities in New Zealand will naturally turn to these matters as the number of vehicles increases. To promote greater, safety on heavily-con-gested highways intersections are being designed where cross traffic is carried by overbridges and subways so that traffic lanes cannot intersect.

“In England there are roundabouts or islands at busy intersections on main arterial outlets, and I strongly recommend this system for the consideration of your roading authorities. Then, again, pedestrians and bicycles should be kept well away from the main traffic stream if the greatest safety is to be achieved.

“Parking on highways is another matter regarding which I am prompted to comment,’’ continued Sir Stenson. “Widening of highways at suitable places to permit pulling off for luncheon, to effect repairs, or to admire the scenery is a matter which is now engaging the attention of British road engineers.

“The abolition of level railway crossings, provision for segregation of traffic, adequate super-elevation on bends, fly-over junctions, uniform nonskid surfaces, and adequate lighting are technical features essential to the construction of modern highways. These are features to which engineers can give adequate attention only if .they are not handicapped by finance. I am a keen advocate of all taxes collected from motorists being devoted to roading improvement and maintenance. Our experience in Britain has been bitter in this respect, as wo built up a vast road fund, and then millions of pounds were confiscated.”

UNDERGROUND GARAGE. WATERTIGHT AND THIEF-PROOF. A disappearing garage has been devised by an English company to meet the needs of householders in congested parts of England where no accommodation is available to house a car. The plan consists of sinking a watertight concrete pit in the ground, and the provision of an electric lift within the confines of the well, whereby the car is lowered into the pit. Above the platform is a roof which, when the platform is in the sunk position, forms a watertight lid, and presents a slab of material Hush with the ground. The machinery for lowering and raising the platform is operated by a small electric motor.

This unique garage can be- raised 60 times for the modest cost of one unit of current. The operation of the apparatus is from inside the house by means of puijh-buttons, thus rendering the garage thief-proof. The time taken to lift the car is about two minutes. The gates of the garage are provided with an electrical device in the manner of an ordinary lift, to ensure that they are closed before the platform can be set in motion. The roof of the garage can be decorated in any way desired, or can have plants or shrubs' planted in tubs on top of it. SIGNAL TRAFFIC LIGHTS. REDUCTION iN NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS. According to the New ork Police Department, the installation ot signal traffic lights at street intersections in that city has resulted in an annual reduction of almost 6000 traffic accidents. It was also disclosed that the SOOT) signal controlled lights in New York only cost £OOOO per year for labour at the control room, as compared with £60,000 a. year it cost when the original 60 traffic light tower stations wore erected in the major streets of that city 27 years ago.