TRAFFIC CONTROL IN WELLINGTON

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27096, 20 July 1953, Page 3

TRAFFIC CONTROL IN WELLINGTON

Scotland Yard Man’s Appointment

(From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, June 22. For its new traffic superintendent, the Wellington City Council will have the services of an expert who has spent many years solving traffic problems and planning ceremonial drives through London’s maze of narrow streets.

Superintendent James Anderson, a superintendent in the traffic branch of New Scotland Yard, has been one of the key men in the Metropolitan Police’s traffic division for 10 years and in that time has daily coordinated the work of thousands of constables on traffic duty throughout the huge metropolitan police area. Superintendent Anderson, who is 49, was born in London and joined the police force in 1924 in the uniform branch. After serving the routine spell on beat duty he tranferred to the Public Carriage Office in 1931, a division of Scotland Yard, which combined the function of licensing authority for taxi, bus and tram drivers.

By 1938, he had risen to the rank of Inspector in his division and had been promoted to the traffic branch. In 1951 he was seconded to the British Police Mission to Greece as a traffic expert and spent a year re-organising traffic control in Athens and other principal cities.

By Act of Parliament, the Commissioner of Police of Scotland Yard is responsible for the control and organisation of all traffic control in London. There are no separate traffic departments attached to various local authorities as in New Zealand and the traffic branch at Scotland Yard is responsible for the control of all pedestrians and vehicles in, the city. As well as advising the Ministry of Transport and local authorities on traffic schemes and signal arrangements, the traffic branch lays down the policy for manning all traffic control points in London, plans special routes for processions and makes all arrangements for ceremonials.

As one of the planning officers at Scotland Yard, Superintendent Anderson has worked out crowd control details for such occasions as the wedding of the Queen, visits of foreign royalty to London and the traffic arrangements for the Victory Parade.

For months before the Coronation, he worked with his staff in Scotland Yard’s buildings 'on the Embankment, planning the thousand and one details that made up the thick volume of traffic instructions for the Coronation season.

Finding ways of moving traffic through narrow streets and twisting lanes has been one of his routine jobs and he is looking forward to his new job of helping to solve similar problems in Wellington.