WIDTH OF LANES

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30588, 3 November 1964, Page 12

WIDTH OF LANES

Increase “Not Feasible” It would not be feasible to provide lanes wider than 12ft at the Port Hills road interchange area of the Christ-church-Lyttelton road tunnel, said the district highways engineer of the Ministry of Works (Mr J. G. Sullivan) at a meeting of the No. 14 District Roads Council yesterday. At an earlier meeting of the council Mr Sullivan was asked to investigate the prospect Of widening the oneway road beneath the underpass at the interchange area. Yesterday Mr Sullivan said that because of the positions of the overbridge piers it would not be possible to provide lanes wider than 12ft. The clearance from the piers to the carriageway was 2ft, and this could not be reduced because of the overhang of large trucks. It would be possible, said Mr Sullivan, to widen the lanes on the Opawa side of the bridge, but this could encourage vehicles to overtake. When vehicles were going towards Heathcote this would be particularly dangerous because of the “throat” which would exist under the bridge. Mr Sullivan said it was not intended that bicycles should not be passed, but with the limited amount of cycle traffic and the low speeds involved, the 12ft lanes were considered to allow for this.

Mr L. L. Smith, representing the Heathcote County Council, said it was disappointing that the lanes could not be widened. He asked that the possibility of a cycle track outside the footpath be investigated. He said the had experienced difficulties in overtaking cyclists in the lanes. “When you toot the horn they just go slower and wider.” It was decided that Mr Sullivan investigate the possibility of cycle tracks.