Riccarton Traffic Control

Press, Volume C, Issue 29702, 21 December 1961, Page 14

Riccarton Traffic Control

All familiar with traffic hazards in and near the main shopping centre of Riccarton will endorse the concern expressed by the Mayor of the borough (Mr E. J. Bradshaw). They will not, however, necessarily support the right of the borough council to unload its responsibility on to the Transport Department. If the council is unwilling to do the job itself, that is another argument—if one were really necessary—for amalgamating this anomalous borough with Christchurch city. Because Riccarton road is the busiest

highway in the South Island, the difficulties of traffic control almost throughout the borough are considerable; but regard for the ratepayers’ pockets—which the borough council cites as the chief reason for its continued existence —is misplaced when it results in neglect of road safety. Better traffic control in Riccarton could be achieved efficiently not through Mr Bradshaw’s improbable suggestion for a special regional authority but by a logical enlargement of the Christchurch City Council’s responsibilities.