CHRISTCHURCH TRANSPORT

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26857, 9 October 1952, Page 3

CHRISTCHURCH TRANSPORT

Brains Trust Debates Problems VIEWS ON LYTTELTON TUNNEL ROAD “Is the tunnel road to Lyttelton justified?” was one of a series of questions put to a brains trust which discussed “transport troubles” in Christchurch at the annual meeting of the Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Geographical Society last evening. Mr A. J. Danks. senior lecturer in economics at Canterbury University College, sa’id investment resources in New Zealand for building capital works were strained to the utmost, and any expansion of public works should be abandoned if it did not have a- first-class priority. For anything but a first-priority project, men and materials could be found only through serious sacrifices elsewhere. Mr Danks said the tunnel road project should be looked at with extreme care. If ratepayers were asked whether they would be prepared to foot the bill, he had no doubt that the result would be that the project would be “kept under examination for a corporate view to be thoroughly established. I don’t think it is yet.” Railway Officer’s Opinion

Mr E. C. Brittenden, transport l licensing officer of the Railways De- i partment. said he had not yet heard a substantial argument advanced to | justify the tunnel road. Even if the j tunnel road was completed the rail- 4 ways would be called on to handle ; 95 per cent, or more of the primary J produce going through the port, and . while there was no delay in the hand- , ling of prirhary produce, the need for * the road had not been established. From the angle of convenience, Mr 1 Brittenden said, he could see only one 1 section of the community—the carowners—gaining anv benefit from the 1 road. Goods could be discharged from 1 a vessel only as thev were available, i and elsewhere, where vehicles were - used at ports, there were instances ’ of carriers’ vehicles being held up. < Mr Brittenden said freight r£tes < from ship to warehouse in Christchurch compared more than favour- ■ ably with freight charges at Auckland and Wellington; but, he asked, did business people or the public generally expect a reduction in freight costs ( if the tunnel road was put through? Other members of the brains trust were Miss Nancy Northcroft, townplanning officer of the Christchurch City Council; Mr G. P. ; Kellar, the City Council’s Traffic Superintendent: and Mr H. Pointer, traffic manager of the Christchurch Transport Board. The questionmaster. Mr A. V. Barley, said that members of the panel were expressing purely personal opinions. Municipal Transport Discussing the question, “What are the difficulties involved in providing adequate municipal transport in Christchurch?” Mr Pointer said there were two main difficulties: the small population to the acre, and the general topography of the area. In the tramway rating area the population was slightly more than five persons to the acre. In Newcastle-on-Ttyne, the number was 26, and in the borough of Sunderland, 25. Under the conditions in Christchurch, it followed that the public transport routes had to be planned so that people in some areas had a long way to walk to them, Mr Pointer said. Miss Northcroft said that back land lying undeveloped in Christchurch created “quite a critical situation” when money had to be spent in providing roading, transport and sewerage for development on the outskirts of the city. Cross-Town Roads The brains trust was asked whether the lack of circular or cross-town roads was a serious deficiency in Christchurch, and whether it caused much congestion. Miss Northcroft said that the amount of traffic on roads in Christ-’ church was infinitesimal. She quoted figures to show that the average hourly traffic on some of Christchurch’s busiest streets was well below the capacity of the streets. On Victoria street, with a capacity of 800 to 900 vehicles an hour, the average for the 12 hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. was only 530, rising to a brief peak of 800 to 900 about 5.30 p.m. The question of cross-town traffic was at present rather academic, said 1 Miss Northcroft, because it was not causing congestion, though no doubt ! by-passing of central areas had to be considered in planning for the future. “I don’t think we suffer from a lack ■ clrcular °r cross-town roads,” said ■ Mr Kellar. “I think we suffer from J too many cross-town roads.”