Council Officers To Study Overseas

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31091, 21 June 1966, Page 16

Council Officers To Study Overseas

Agreeing with two of its committees that the problems that would arise in traffic engineering in the next few years would be among the most critical the city would have to face, the City Council last evening decided to send three of its officers overseas.

The traffic engineer (Mr H. E. Surtees) will go overseas for about two months and a half to investigate recent developments. He will be accompanied by the traffic superintendent (Mr J. F. Thomas). The assistant traffic engineer will go to Australia early next year to attend a three-month course in traffic engineering at the University of New South Wales. The council will also advertise for an assistant engineer to be added to the traffic section. Professional staff at present devoted entirely to traffic engineering were the traffic engineer and one assistant, the city development committee said. Both were trained initially as civil engineers, and apart from a short post graduate course in Australia in 1958 by Mr Surtees, neither had had any formal training in what was becoming an increasingly specialised branch of engineering. There was no opportunity in New Zealand for staff to further their experience.

The committee proposed that Mr Surtees spend about

three weeks in Europe, four weeks in the United Kingdom, and four weeks in the United States. During that time he would attend the combined international study week and road safety congress in Spain and the annual meeting of the American Institute of Traffic Engineers. The cost was estimated at £l2OO. The traffic committee said that as traffic engineering and traffic control were closely related, it would be of great benefit to the city if Mr Thomas accompanied Mr Surtees on the investigation.