Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit THURSDAY, JULY 31, 1941. RAILWAY CROSSINGS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 247, 31 July 1941, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit THURSDAY, JULY 31, 1941. RAILWAY CROSSINGS.

The problem of safeguarding vehicular and pedestrian traffic on the level crossings in the Borough, now before the Council, has arisen from the increase in railway traffic, an increase in road traffic and a revolutionary change in road conditions that were not foreseen when the line was constructed and were perhaps not taken into due consideration when the question of removing the Station to West Belt was discussed early in the century. What would best suit the townspeople is the installation of more efficient warning signals than the present bells, which have several disadvantages familiar to all residents. In his letter to the Council the District Engineer says, however, there is little prospect of any improvement being made in the warning devices for some considerable time. It is therefore suggested that, the Burnett and Moore Street crossings be closed, the advantage being that the traffic on the remainder would be increased to such an extent that they would rank higher in the list of works requiring alteration. If it is proved to be impracticable to install new warning signals at all the crossings consideration must be given to the Department’s suggestion. As the Engineer pointed out, there are now five crossings in 23 chains, which were probably warranted in the days of slowmoving traffic, when a few hundred yards meant much extra time on a journey, whereas to-day that distance means only a minute or two. The main consideration therefore is whether removal of one or two would mean congestion at the remainder. The Department’s figures show that the combination of the traffic, at Burnett and Moore Streets is much below the present volume at the Havelock Street crossing, which cannot be considered as congested, except at noon and five o’clock, at which times almost all crossings in towns present the same condition. In considering the question of congestion it should not be overlooked that if the distance between the crossings were greater there would not be so many occasions on which shuntin" operations would necessitate rakes of trucks obstructing road traffic. Thus there appears to be some ground in favour of reducing the number of vehicular crossings. But if this is done there should be provision for pedestrians, by means of subways. This applies particularly to Burnett Street, as giving access to the centre of an .important business area in West' Street. One condition should be that the remaining crossings be provided with adequate visual signals. The need for some improvement in conditions is pressing, but the Council has taken the right step in deferring its decision until members have gone fully into the matter with the Engineer personally. \