CITY TRAFFIC PROBLEMS

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21119, 21 March 1934, Page 10

CITY TRAFFIC PROBLEMS

♦ Smaller Buildings or Wider Streets HOW CONGESTION IS CAUSED Although sky-scrapers, with thenattendant traffic problems, have not vet become a serious issue in New Zealand, the news published recently from London that the height to which buildings may be erected there has been increased from 80 to 100 feet draws attention to what may easily become a most serious problem in the cities of the Dominion. The close association between the size of buildings and traffic problems is probably not clearly realised by many members of the public, but of course not only the size of buildings in a street but also the use to which they are put exercises a direct influence on the amount of traffic flowing in that street and through the various outlets connecting it with other parts of the town.

Superficially the narrowness of city streets appears to be the chief cause of congestion, but the actual fact is that the streets were m existence before the buildings and the erection of types of buildings unsuitable to. or too large for, the street has caused the congestion. Street widening, besides being extremely expensive, is not regarded by town planning authorities as being a permanent cure for the disease, and it is considered that the buildings themselves should be adjusted tothe width of the streets. To some extent this is done in Christchurch. where the height of buildings may not exceed the width of the street in which they stand.

Congestion in New York The tralYie congestion in New York is probably the worst in the world, although the streets are wide and lhere is a network of underground railways. New York is looked on as being the most over-built city in the world, but it is an interesting fact that, only 1 per cent, of the buildings on Manhattan Island are of more than 10 storeys, while the average height is only 4.3 storeys. Another important factor affecting traffic is the use to which the buildings in any given street are put. The number of ifrsons using 1000 square feet of floor space in a retail store, for example, is estimated to be equal to the number using 5000 square feet of space in an office building. Thus in Cashe! street traflic is likely to be four or five times as heavy as. say. in Hereford .-street. Rush-Hour Traffic A problem of particular importance m Chrislchurch is that of rushhour tra.'.ic. Though Chrislchurch. alone of the cities of New Zealand, has its business quarter ituated in the centre* of the city, the problem of rush-hour traflic, particularly m the evenings. is a serious one largely because of the several "bot-tle-necks" which exist round Cathedral square. It is probable thai every possible ellort lias not yet been made to solve the "bottleneck" problem m Chrislchurch. but that it will have to be solved m the near future is practically certain. The principal difficulty in Christchurch arises because.' traflic from the north usually attempts to pass through Cathedral square on its wa\ to the south, and vice versa. It would be almost impossible to provide other direct routes between north and south and east and west, but it would not. In- as difficult to divert this cross-city traflic and make it pa>s round the .-square and not through it. on the principle thai only traflic which actually requires to use a "bottle-neck" should be allowed to u.-e it. Alternative Uoutes Very often when traflic congestion is noticeable m the busy areas of large towns it is due to the absence of suitable alternative routes, and even when alternative routes exist they are frequently without attraction for traflic. Mam streets may be congested while; parallel streets only a short distance away are empty because they have poor surfaces or arc badly illuminated.

It is evident that, however huge and well-planned it may be. no street can carry an unlimited volume of traffic. Town planning authorities hold that before any drastic steps are taken to prevent or check congestion—for example, by actually compelling vehicles to use alternative streets —the controlling bodies should consider whether all possible precautions have been taken to see that the largest possible area of the street is available to moving traffic, and whether sufficient outlets and alternative 1 routes are provided to prevent the convergence of an undesirably large volume of traffic towards a particular street. So great has been the increase in vehicular traffic using the streets in recent years that it is no longer necessary merely to provide connecting thoroughfares between various parts of a city. Care has to betaken, in view of the heavy traffic, to see that these thoroughfares are properly used and that none is used, if possible, more than others.