Committee To Study Double Parking In City

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29860, 28 June 1962, Page 12

Committee To Study Double Parking In City

Ways of overcoming the problems of double parking in Christchurch were discussed yesterday at a special meeting of the transport committee of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce. Present were representatives of commercial vehicle operators, the Traffic Superintendent of the Christchurch City Council (Mr J. F. Thomas) and representatives of other interested parties.

At the conclusion of the meeting it was decided to set up a sub-committee of representatives of interested parties, including the Transport Department and the City Council traffic department to investigate solutions to the double parking problem for presentation to the authorities. The chairman of the meeting was the president of the Chamber of Commerce (Mr P. M. Mac Shane). Goods transport in the city was of great importance, and it was essential merchants and retailers w’ere served efficiently and as quickly as possible, said the chairman of the transport committee (Mr L. V. Etwell). Smooth Flow Necessary The transport operators would agree the smooth flow of traffic was necessary and while, in the absence of a suitable alternative. they would guard their privelege of double parking to load and unload, they would cooperate to find a solution to the problem, said Mr Etwell. Mr Etwell discussed four suggestions. There could be pick-up and delivery outside normal hours; provision of loading zones for trucks at specified hours; parking on only one side of selected streets: or complete prohibition of double parking at cer. tain hours, for example between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m.; noon and 2 p.m.; 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.

The first alternative would require the rearrangement of staff, the payment of overtime or even the employment of extra staff. Railways staff would have to be available at the arranged hours for delivery of the goods from the sheds. If there were loading zones at specified hours, congestion would be likely to occur at the zones because of the limited time. It would mean a number of trucks converging on one point. Unilateral parking would give some relief if trucks were permitted to load and unload on the side of the road not being used. There

would be some risk to the drivers having to deliver to the opposite side of the road.

Delivery Time Complete prohibition of double parking at the hours quoted as an example would give only five hours delivery time during the day. Transport operators would view this with concern. It would reduce the productive time of the trucks and increase the cost' Essential services to merchants would be curtailed. The convergence o. trucks at the unrestricted hours would increase traffic congestion. Mr Etwell said unilateral parking would restrict the amount of space available to private motorists. It could apply in sections of Cashel, Lichfield, Colombo, Manchester, Gloucester, Armagh and High streets. He felt of all the proposals it was one of the best. Certain city streets were ideally suited for one-way traffic, said Mr Thomas in reply to a question. But this would have to be gone into very fully before anything could be done. It was agreed parking on one side of streets was a possible solution but could not be thought of until adequate off-street parking facilities were available for motorists. It was decided to refer the suggestion to the sub-com-mittee for further consideration. Not Acceptable Loading and unloading outside normal business hours would not find favour with retailers, said Mr W. G. W. Rix. Mr L. Corner said it would add to costs and would be opposed. The meeting agreed delivery outside normal business hours was not acceptable. It was also agreed that the provision of loading zones, which was being investigated by the City Council, did not at present seem practicable. Complete prohibition of double parking at certain hours was inevitable and essential in certain streets.

said Mr R. C. Neville An example was parts of Colombo street.

It was agreed that from many points of view it was undesirable, but it had to come.

Mr F. H. Wright said in some of the suburban areas the Transport Department had placed a total ban on double parking. Sometimes a vehicle had to stop 200 yards away from a delivery point. This was an impossible situation for the carriage of frozen foods, he said. The organisations represented at the meeting, and which will be represented on the sub-committee, were the Canterbury and Westland Retailers’ Association, New Zealand Retail Motor Trade Association, Christchurch City Council, T. Borthwick and Sons, Ltd., CanterburjManufacturers’ Association. Perfection Ice Cream Company, Christchurch and Suburban Carriers’ and Customhouse Agents' Association, Canterbury Transport and Drivers’ Union, the New Zealand Railways, and the Canterbury Wholesale Hardware Merchants’ Association.