No Congestion At Bridge

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31329, 28 March 1967, Page 1

No Congestion At Bridge

Holiday traffic moved steadily down t n e Main North road into Christchurch yesterd a y afternoon and evening, but was not dense enough to cause any real congestion at the Waimak ar ir i bridge. There was also steady citybound traffic up the Main South road, where cars were occasionally slowed but not brought to a stop. Traffic was light on the Main West road. Driving behaviour this Easter was reported, on the whole, good in the Christ-

church area, and on the main roads to it. “Drivers are trying their best to go safely,” said one senior traffic officer. The main flow of traffic on the Main North road yesterday passed over the Waimakariri bridge between 4.30 p.m. and 6 p.m.—but there were not the delays of past holiday week-ends. A team of six traffic officers based at the bridge kept traffic flowing smoothly, with a pointsman at the Tram road intersection directing motorists at intervals from 5 p.m. For the most part, he was not needed, as breaks in the Main North road traffic every now and then enabled cars from the Tram road to join the main road and cross south over the bridge. Television cameramen who

attended in the hope of traffic-jam pictures were disappointed. Traffic behaviour at the bridge was good, officers said, and patrolmen further up the Main North road said the same.

This was in contrast to driving seen at the Waimakariri bridge at the beginning of the Easter holiday on Thursday night, between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., when rain was falling. “North-bound drivers were coming off the bridge at 40 to 45 miles an hour and driving far too close together,” said Senior Traffic Officer W. Sterritt, who directed traffic control at the bridge yesterday. The main driving fault noticed yesterday, said Traffic

Officer Sterritt, was unnecessary overtaking by motorists, who pulled out of line merely to pass one vehicle in front.

These drivers achieved nothing, and gained no real time on their journeys—yet there could always be the risk of collision, he said. Senior Traffic Officer W. J. Tait, who directed traffic control on the Main South road yesterday, said that motorists in his area had been wellbehaved.

Although traffic on the Main South road had been fairly heavy, it had never had to slow below 30 miles an hour. Traffic in Christchurch itself was light over Easter.