CITY TRAMS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 69, 23 March 1910, Page 3

CITY TRAMS.

THE WADESTOWN LINE. Proposed new city section. The City Council last evening dealt •with various matters affecting the tiam■uays. First it fixed th? maximum fare to be charged en the Wadcstown route at 2c'. In the course of a discussion the Mayor informed the council that the Wadcstown Municipal Electors' Association had written complaining oi delay in the construction of the tramway iv that district, but tho association had overlooked the fact that the plans had had to be got ready and the matter advertised. However, the work would be begun about the middle of next month. Councillor Devine asked whether the 2d fare on the Wadestown line was sufficient. The Major said a fare had to be given to the Government. It had been found, with regard lo the Lyall Bay line, that the council could get through a 2d fare, but not a 3d one. A CONNECTING LINK. Councillor Hindmarsh moved — That (a) a tramway be made from .Willis-street to the main track near the Post Office, along Cnstomhouscquny. (b) Post Office-square be wood-blocked, (c) Tho cost of tho permanent way of such tramway, £5750, and of the overhead equipment, £500, be advanced by the district fund to the Tramway Department in April next. He described the condition of Post Office-squaro as bad. The late Mayor had recommended the expenditure of about £3000 a year wood-block-ing streets, and he believed the city engineer agreed with the suggestion. The loop line proposed would be exceedingly convenient in the cate of the narrow neck of Lambton-quay being blocked. The tramway engineer regarded the proposal as a good cne, as the line would relieve congestion. The wood blocking of the square would cost about £4000. The Mayor . Has the council got the money T Councillor Hindmarsh said tnat savings might be effected in various departments to allow of the wood blocking being done. The tramway v -uld soon pay the cost of the work. ile would move the motion. Councillor Fletcher_ seconded, an-l strongly supported~~th'e proposal. The work, he held, would be revenue-produc-ing. At present the square opposite the Post Office was one of the dirtiest Jpots in Wellington. Only Tecentlythe whole of the traffic along Lambtonquay was stopped. This would be obviated by a loop at the Post Office. The expenditure was small, and would be much more than covered by the revenue to be derived from the undertaking. AN AMENDMENT. Councillor Ballinger represented that the proposal had in cue form or another been before ths Tramways Committee on other occasions.. He would move, as ao amendment, that the- proposal should be referred to the Tramways Committee. Councillor Smith seconded the amendment. It was not for the Tramways Committee to undertake street-blocking as a whole. That wa« for the City Council itself to do. The whole street, and not a portion of it, should be wood blocked. In other streets they bad the stone setts, projecting over the surface of the road and constituting a danger to cyclists and pedestrians. Councillor Frost said it was useless to ref«r the matter to the Tramway Committee again. It had now been dribbling on for years. He bad no doubt whatever that the line would bo payable, and theie was to be considered the fact that the Government Station was to be at Customhouse-quay. The line would be a payable one. Councillor Fletcher: Waterloo-quay is where the new Government Station will be. Councillor Frost : Our trains lose Tevenue by this section not being made. Our lines arc going backward instead of forward. Cbristchureh. Dunedin, and Auckland tramways are going ahead, and ours are going backward. A Voice : Nonsense. Councillor Frost : It is so. You are losing revenue by not running the cars down Willis street to the Government Poft Office. Councillor Devine supported the amendment. He did not think a member of a committee should forestall matters before that committee by bringing them before the council. He understood the matter was being dealt with by two committees — the Finance Committee and the Tramways Committee. The Finance Committee should deal with woodblocking, and the Tramways Committee with the link line. The Brooktyn people, represented by Councillor Frost, wanted to be carried down to the Post Office for the same fares they were paying now — the rest of the city to make up for it. It should be left to t!*c committee. Councillor Cohen also supported the amendment. THE FINANCIAL ASPECT. Councillor Trevor urged that the financial aspect should be fully considered. If one street were to cost £5000 the Post Office-square would cost £5000, too. He wanted to know where the council stood. He favoured the proposal going to the Tramways Committee but he hoped the committee would bring it up again and not neglect it. Councillor Fitzgerald said everyone charged the committee with delay. After the' arguments adduced in favour of the motion no one should object to it. He also referred to the recent block of the Lambton-quay traffic, which would have been avoided by the General Post Office loop. The committee, he repeated, bad neglected its duty. The whole matter should be dealt with that evening. He warmly supported the motion. The Mayor said the matter had been brought up because of the approaching end of tho financial year. Councillor Trevor had touched the point. It was a matter of money. If it were going to come out of district funds, as Councillor flindiuarsL s-ugges-tcd, it meant it wjuid have to come out of overdraft ; it meant that £9000 would have to be found. Councillor Hindmarsh observed that all he proposed was the expenditure of £2750 on wood blocking. Councillor Smith, with that airy, dancing-master manner of his, opposed the proposal, but it had been before the council again and again. Councillors Smith and Ballinger were in favour of it, and yet they wanted it put back. He dissented from the Mayor that the money for the work would come out of overdraft. The Mayor night as well say the council lived on overdraft. The matter could be easily financed. REFERRED BACK. The amendment that the proposals should be referred back to the Tramways and Finance Committees was carried. Four car equipments are to be ordered for the conversion of box cars to combination cars, or for the construction of cais.

A grant for increased accommodation at Parapsraumu School is to be applied for by the Education Board conditionally on additional evidence of the need being submitted by the committee.