TRAFFIC RESTRICTION

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 79, 27 December 1928, Page 12

TRAFFIC RESTRICTION

PRECAUTIONS ON CHRIST* MAS EVE STRONG COMMENT ‘‘A good deal of comment is being inaue rites "Nemos ) on the extraordinary restrictions placet! upon motor trade m tue eny on Christmas Eve, wnicu wouiu seem to inmeate that the traiuc uepurtment is either endeavouring to create a moturless Christmas Eve or a truuic pi'omein which does not exist in oruer to justify the big staff of officials. One doctor who had a ease to attend in the vicinity of Lambton Quay stated that lie was proceeding down Willis Street in the ordinary way when he was ordered by a traffic official to tarn up Boulcott Street and find his way to the other end of the city via Wellington Terrace, though at that time there did not seem to be more traffic in Willis Street than there was on an ordinary Friday night. "Tlie police force were in full strength to control the traffic, or rather to eliminate it from tlie main thoroughfares of trade altogether. Policemen were stationed at Grey Street and at Stewart Dawson's corner to “shoo” all southbound motor-cars into the back streets, and others acted in a similar way to north-bound cars at Taranaki and Cuba Streets. The outcome of this needlessly drastic action was peculiar, for about 10 p.m. Willis Street looked almost desolate, so thoroughly had it been denuded of motor traffic of all kinds, save only cars the drivers of which had actual business to attend to in that thoroughfare.

“In the opinion of many motorists the matter of motor control in Wellington, is being overdone and motorists are being harassed as they are not in any other city in New Zealand, due, it is believed in some quarters, to a swollen traffic staff endeavouring to justify its existence. Wellington, by comparison with larger cities, has very little to complain of in the way of traffic. It is almost comical to hear of traffic problems after returning from Sydney or San Francisco, not to mention other and larger centres. In comparison our streets are but sparsely used, hy motor vehicles, save perhaps for a couple of hours a day at two or three points. “A motorist complain?:, too, of the short-sighted policy adopted by the traffic department in some of its regulations. He mentions that half of Dixon Street may be used by motor traffic either way, but the other half (between Cuba Street and Courtenay Place) may only be used by west-bound traffic. That, he maintains, is a great mistake, as all those coming from the direction of Upper Willis Street and Cuba Street, being unable to use Dixon Street east, are forced down into the busier Manners Street, where an awkward turn has to be made into a far more congested street, whereas Dixon Street —quite a quiet thoroughfare—is the natural avenue to Courtenay Place. To divide one street up in this manner is confusing enough to local motorists; but what must it be to strangers? “There is a great divergence of opinion as to the efficacy of the new signal lights at Courtenay Place. If the inspectorial staff would only let the lights work automatically, everyone would get to know what to expect and when to expect it. But sometimes they are worked automatically, and at times erratically by the officers. Only the other day the officer in the signal box was seen to leave his post, and come out and shout directions to the traffic. Evidently he had got it into sueh a state of confusion that he thought he could straighten out the tangle better by using his arms and voice, which he did most effectively. Then he went back to the signal box. These lights are intended to work automatically, and if left to do their work unmolested will do it well, and the motoring publie will learn to respect them. But as far as any saving is concerned, that is but of the question, as there are at present usually ,tw° officers about the spot, as well as the signal lights, replacing the solitary white-gloved policeman who did his duty so well in the past. “Another unreasonable restriction was aired in ‘The Dominion’ the other day. The reference was to the position of a motorist held up by the stopping of a tram proceeding in the same direction, and yet not being at liberty to move forward when the tram did so. The police state that he has to receive an individual signal, apart altogether from that received by the tram-driver; and, in order to get that signal, has to remain stationary until the tram moves on, and so reveals the traffic officer. It is pointed out that in London two hundred vehicles may move forward on the one signal, but in Wellington each individual • motorist must receive his own signal. “Is it not time the Automobile Association turned its attention to these things that are harassing motorists in Wellington?”