Urgency sought for barrier arms

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33037, 3 October 1972, Page 16

Urgency sought for barrier arms

The Parker Street-Foremans Road level crossing at Hornby was no more accidentprone than others in the built-up parts of the city, the District Engineer of the Railways Department (Mr J. C. Sandford) told a meeting of the Hornby County Borough Council.

In a report to a meeting of the Paparua County Council last evening, the county borough said that the meeting had been arranged to discuss the recent fatal accident on the crossing, when a child was struck by a rail-car. Mr Sandford said that when a rail-car was travelling at 55m.p.h., there was

26sec or 27sec warning by lights and bells. If the period of warning was increased, it had been found, pedestrians and cyclists were inclined to move across the line. He said to suggestions that barrier arms should be installed, that 50 sets were installed each year in New Zealand, and it could be five or six years before this crossing had them, as priority was given to crossings not protected by bells and lights. The chairman (Cr H. W. Bennett) asked the department to give some urgency to the installation of barrier arms, to consider re-position-ing a signal box, said to obscure the view from the crossing, and to tidy up the footways.