TE ARO QUERY

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 60, 7 September 1912, Page 9

TE ARO QUERY

TO CLOSE OR DEVELOP? ANOTHER CHAPTER.

Town-planning, harbour improvement policy, the tramway system, the central railway station, food supplies, and other factors have come into the Te Aro controversy. Many a train of thought is running on the line, collisions have occurred, and the people have witnessed a disturbance of the peace. ' However, the personal element seems to be sidetracked now, and the citizens have a prospect of a clear run on the muchdiscussed track. SEA-BORNE GOODS. "Look at the sea; think of the goods that come in ships," said Mr. R. Fletcher, chairman of the Wellington Harbour Board. Referring to foodstuffs, he held that the quantity brought into the city by rail for local consumption was a trifle compared with the huge supplies poured in by steamers. Wellington had to look to ships rather than to trains for the necessaries of life. . Briefly discussing the harbour policy, Mr. Fletcher said the intention was to continue the concentration* of deep-sea traffic at the northern wharves. A new wharf (Pipitea) had been planned, and others would be provided in that locality in the course of time. The bulk of the goods railed into Wellington was for export, and therefore it was necessary to have < these wharves conveniently linked with the main station scheme. The Queon'a Wharf and other wharves southward would be used for intercolonial and coastal vessels. WHY NOT TRAMWAY TRACTION? Mr. Fletcher said he had been in formed that the " breaking up " and " making up " of trains for Te Aro traffic cost more than the cartage between Thorndon and Te Aro. His study of modern traction practice in other countries convinced him that the compllcated street train system— noisy, smoky, inconvenient, and dangerous— was utterly out of date. Why should it not be possible to work in with the tramways for an expeditious goods service? Why not electric freight cars to the fruit market? There were no engineering difficulties that he could see in a sane use of the tramways (by arrangement with the Government or otherwise) for the satisfactory carriage of goods from the present Thorndon Station or, better, from the proposed new station near < Bunny street to all parts of Wellington. Such a scheme was capable of indefinite expansion. Karori. Brooklyn, Wadsstown, Island Bay, Miramar, Seatoun could be well served. Depots for goods could be established at suitable points as desired, and altogether the whole community could enjoy a benefit, economically, from a sensible, progressive use of the tramways. THE POWER OF PETROL. Another commentator suggests that petrol should settle the Te Aro dispute. Ihiß critic holds that locomotive traction in city streets must soon be superseded by petrol, and he holds that it would be worse than waste of money— it would be madness — to sink money in any enlargement of the Te Aro service when it is recognised by all students of the times that the day of petrol is here. LEAGUERS NOT ABASHED. ' Undismayed by the Chamber of Commerce and not discouraged by the hostile Harbour Board, the Te Aro Railway Improvement and Extension League is working to convince all thoughtful people of Greater Wellington and the Government that the "city line should be used much more for the benefit of the cityand district than it is now. Perceiving that opponents aro oui against them the leaguers are sharpening their bayonets and looking about for ball cartridge. They repeat their argument that there is no lack of profitable work for the line to do if the authorities will only agree to build an adequate goods shed and increase the number of important trains to Te Aro terminal. They contend that if the line was properly managed nine-tenths of the timber from the country, and about the same proportion of road metal, an^normoua quantity of fruit 'and produce for the combined markets near Te Aro station (estimated to be not less than <iw),O0O packages a year), and the bulk of the chaff and grain would be sent to Te Aro, thus avoiding vexatious delays and costly cartage to and from a goods depot a mile and a-half distant fromthe population centre of the city. In addition, it is claimed that the main passenger traffic of the city would naturally pass through the station admittedly nearest the centre, if proper facilities were furnished. 'EXTENDING SOUTHWARD. " The only appreciable ' extension of the city must be southward and southeastward," the leaguers say. "In the future, probably not so very far distant, the hills and valleys lying beyond the Mount Victoria ridge will carry a population of between 30,000 and 50,000 people, and the land beyond Mount Victoria will also supply the necessary area for those industries which, requiring considerable space, must necessarily migrate from the heavily-rated area of the city proper to the cheaper ground on the shores of Evans Bay. Assuming this forecast is reasonable, then the demand for railway connection with our Main Trunk system follows automatically, for even if railway passengers were content to journey to and from a railway station (situated at the extreme northern end of the city) by train and otherwise, it is obvious that such industries as sawmills, iron foundries, and others could not exist, much less thrive, if thus cut off from railway communication. Here, therefore, is a potent reason why the Te Aro line should be retained to provide the means of further extension to the locality where such •development is highly probable." ABOUT CONGESTION. The existing congestion on Jervoisquay and the water front generally is urged against the project by , the Chamber of Commerce, which contends that a railway traversing that route and running at full capacity must lead to chaos. The league's supporters maintain that "immediate relief from this would be forthcoming by the establishment of a goods shed at Te Aro, for a large proportion of this congestion complained of is the direct result of the heavy cart-age traffic between the centre of the city and the railway receiving sheds at fThoindon. To minimise the danger to human life and to reduce as much as possible the incident inconvenience of a railway on a busy thoroughfare is clearly the duty of the Railway Department, which should not refuse the demands of- a city's traffic by reason of this responsibility. How this can best be met," the leaguers submit, "is, of course, a matter for experts retained by tho State for this special purpose, but we offer it as our opinion that no insuperable difficulty presents itself in the suggestion that as ,the years go by and the exigencies of the case require it, ! this railway section could be made j below the street level throughout the ! busiest part of its route. An excavation thns made and covered would, it appears to us, provide the solution of many of the difficulties raised, and at the same time retain the use of the hole of the street surface so valuable

in the locality named by reason of the ever-increasing wharf traffic. FERRY TRAFFIC. "One other point must not be lost sight of," conclude the leaguers, "and that is that within a short time reasonable facilities for the transhipment of through passengers between both islands must be provided. This is obvious, for no city claiming to be progressive could long maintain the present state of affairs and the consequent great inconvenience. Te Aro seems to furnish the means which must be provided in the immediate future."