CATHEDRAL SQUARE; PARKING PROBLEMS

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24932, 20 July 1946, Page 6

CATHEDRAL SQUARE; PARKING PROBLEMS

tra f FIC PROBLEMS—6

It is not intended to go closely into detail about the condition of traffic in Cathedral square. Although this qtiestion has already been shelved too long, ffiore is little tt> lose and something to gain by she ' v , ,n S a month or two' m ‘> r e “ntil nt general manager of the ChnStchurc Trainway Board arrives from Engiana. It Tfaii to say that the City Council has nressed fm an earlier decision: but the Tramway Board. rtoush, h® wanted its hew chfei executive officer to have a hand shaping its long-term policy. Some improvements however, may be effected immediately. U A S stood that certain changes in and in traffic routes will be mended to the respective bodies by sub-committees which conferred re centlv. The changes will be mainly experimental and should hejp to en sure a satisfactory final solution when the two bodies eventually come toe e r y tO sh d o e u C l^b°e n aW to agree on three points, which most road users ™ CL) North-bound traffic should be allowed to go through the centre of the Square as well as south-boilntt traffic; and it should be Possible■ t rearrange the tram rails and safely zones so that neither line of traffic need cross the mam tram tracks (2) No exceptions to the no ngm turn” rule should be 3 n o w ecL PfedestHahs must be kept on tne cirr age-wav” preferably by providthem with safety zones running diagonally from corner to co ™er. of Trains and Buses On another most L h u e s ?<x al l h /ain S t. S Und^btedly e ttie a findff pedestrian traffic in the Square, wiiui *

PG lt e seems reasonable to suggest that som/ oAhe public transport services should be required to skirt tne centre of the city, approaching no nearer Cathedral square than say. Manchester street, Hereford street, O. ford terrace, and Victoria square. The Tramway Board has replied to this argument in the past by saying: Why should motorists be allowed to dr w® into thfe Square while tram and bus users, set Yown some distance fi-offi it, will have to walk the rest of the way?” The answer, of course, is mat motorists have to do the same. The motorist -toho drives his car to Vjorfc in the morning must leave it as a rule, a quarter of a. mile or half a mile from his place of business, unless he is willing to run the risk of getting a parking “stitker.” Parking Limits are Needed That risk will be increased greatly in the hear ftitdre, fdt as motor traffic increases parking limits will havfc to be more strictly ehforced. Only some general considerations upon th is problem need be mentioned here, because the parking problem, like the Cathedral square problem, is now being teViewed by the City Council Ffrw motorists now will argue, a

many used to. that time limits foj parkirtg in the centre of the city *- e not justified. Unrestricted patftfo. would mean that most of the parkin* space would be taken up all day by the same vehicles. Late-comers, shopoets, and visitors would have to leave tbeif cars some distance out and do theft business on foot. It would also accgfi. tuate greatly, perhaps intolerably, fhe present unavpidable trouble with the • double-banking'’ of trade vehicles. Goods of all kinds have to be take* in and out of shops and comfrieftijl premises at all hours of the day. The City Council has been criticised, at times, for reserving parking space for those businesses which have frequent deliveries and dispatches through their front doors. Too many such space* may be reserved: but it should hot be forgotten that without them trade vehicles will be banked outside tfo

line of parked cars. Careless Parking This double-banking, of course,. j s most troublesome in the streets whfcfo the side-channels are not covered and there are tram lines. At the same time, it seems that stricter &j. of the parking regulation ft needed—especially those requiring vehicles to be parked as close as nossible td the kerb and parallel with it Christchurch motorists number rtatif careless parkers. as a tour of the city oh any busy afternoon will show, fie parking lines of Cashel street nearly always full, are usually three or four feet further out in the road why than they should be. restricting the space for moving ttaffic. The space is further limited when some one. atteifiptihg to fit his car Into a small sbace. leaves three or four.feet of the tail projecting into the roadway. One trouble is undoubtedly that many motorists are not sufficiently skilful or painstaking to use the method which these circumstances reqrifet Where there is little more than a car’s length in which to park it.is virtu, ally impossible to park correctly by going ih nose first. The car should be backed iri.dnd the front whehld Stvsirf at thr> ia/crt sfafffi of the rhanomtWii

in at the last stage of tne manoeuw. Closer Supervision Needed Mb'tofists whb park ihcbrrictW trouble, arid annoy others in . man* ways. Most motorists have had (he experience of being imprisoned ift an angle-parking lot by some one who has placed his ear—at an illegal flngleacross his line of retreat. t Most had the same experience in a parking space, where two otnef c&i, front and rear r have been illegally parked at an angle. Others inconsiderately park squarely in the middle of i parking space long enough for two Closer supervision, with careful attention to all these points, is needed in Christchurch: but the question is still one of manpower and of finance. The City Council's traffic department numbers only about 20 inspectors, who have to be worked in two shifts; arijl parking is only one of the many thinß.- ;.hey have to deal w’ith, and not the most important. Those who have driven cars also in Auckland and Wellington fcfcpw that Wy cpriiparisbri the parking pfofc (em in. Christchurch is not sute, Nevertheless, the City Council Will M wise if. without losing time., it acts tdj the suggestion of Cr. M. E. Lyons that lahd shbul4.be set aside for OfffsrtrtS parking. That, too,*, i$ a question of 1 finance. The council may be tempted to shelve it in favour of the many other urgent works awaiting it. piled up during the war. The temptation should be resisted.