THE BANK CORNER.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19669, 12 July 1929, Page 13

THE BANK CORNER.

TO THE EDITOB Of THE TRESS. Sir, —One reads with interest your reports of City Council debates on this question, your comments, a.nd those of citizens interviewed by your representative. There must be many other readers of The Press, besides myself, who hope that tho power of our daily papers will be used to prevent the Council doing anything foolish in the way of purchasing, what cannot, at best, be more than a narrow and useless strip from the Bank at the Bank's p; ice. To my mind there in nothing v. ong at the Bank corner, except the lack of traffic eontrol, and this can be remedied only by sending -a responsible officer abroad to learn what traffic eontrol is, or by importing a competent traffic controller. For instance, all vehicular traffic moving east ; west, or west-east, could be barred by road gates across Hereford street during rush hours, as motortraffic is forbidden the bottle-neck on Friday nights. An "island" between tratks anywhere, and at this spot particularly, is too stupid for words. The Labour Party, at present ruling the Council — with Dr. Thacker.,'s assistance — the island on the .ground that if is an experiment, and that it •_ had been suggested by Mr Henry, Cotterill. Is either reason in the least • degree sound 1 Are tho prepared to follow Mr Cotterill'a suggestions regarding, say,, lavatories in the Square! Cr. Cooke has been recently in London. Can he imagine .an island' in the middle of Fleet'street, where it runs with "a narrow neck into : Ludgate Hill, with no tram" tracks, and four or five times the traffic of the B.N.Z. corner?

If the Sank intended pulling down its Colombo street front, a collonnade could be arranged with benefit, and at little cost—rand the suggestion of -a relief street from Hereford street, east of the Bank, through to the Square, is well worth consideration at this stage. Expensive bridges or subways are unnecessary, and would not suit cripple and elderly people at all. Again, traffic control—involving probably one-way traffic—is the proper and least expensive solution. In any case as has been remarked, is this spot noted for ■ accidentst I remember any during the past twitf years. Tho rate.payers curbed a former jCouncil's extravagant ideas in the purchase of the stKp in Question. I- li'ope they, with the help of the Press, may do it again. In any case, it can be a matter of a few years only till the trams are out Wf the "neck.''—Yours, etc., PEDESTRIAN. July 11th, 1929.