CITY'S TRAM ROUTES

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 36, 11 August 1923, Page 9

CITY'S TRAM ROUTES

MAIN ARTERIAL THOROUGH

FARES

NEEDS OF THE FUTURE.

TO THE EDITOR,

Sir, —In the account of the deputation that waited on the City Council recently to urge an immediate start with the proposed Huron, road scheme, emphasis was laid on the fact that the council had a mandate from the people to go ahead with the work. Indeed, it was hinted, if not openly suggested, that the council was flouting the will pf the people in not proceeding with the scheme. I contend that if the scheme is allowed to drop, the council will be guilty of no breach of failh, for the simple reason that it was made plain to us all before the poll that if the work was not begun within five years the scheme would lapse. When the people, on this understanding, gave their representatives the mandate, how can it be contended that non-progression is against the people's will? It is in accordance -■with it.

Also, I am not alone in the belief that to proceed with this costly scheme at a time when so many other more urgent works are held in abeyance for want of funds would not only be inadvisable, but would be akin to gambling with public money. I advance my reasons: — (1.) The immediate needs of Karori wjll be better met by the Bowen streetSydney street short-cut, which, while serving the great and growing northern area., including Post Office, Railway, Government Buildings, wharves (to say nothing of proposed reclaimed portions), will, in point of distance and time, and at a fraction of the cost, bring Karori as near to Manners street and Courtenay place as the long, costly route at present advocated, principally by the To Aro Advancement Association. The association pleads that the Rarpa road scheme would be in the best interest of the city as a. whole. The kindest thing to be said in reply is that the association is unconsciously confusing the city's interest with its own!

(2.) Northland's needs will be met in the meantime by the cpmpletion of work in hand, coupled with the short-cut just mentioned.

(3.) The strongest argument so far advanced in favour pf Raroa road is that it WQuld bring new building land within reach of the tram. Here is where the gamble would niter in. The monetary return;, except to the landowners, is doubtful in the extreme. Apart from this, in the best interests of the whole city, as I shall presently attempt to putljne, there should be concentration on costly matters of vital importance to future progress. The Uity Council and its officers are to bo congratulated on efforts made to lay out an additional main tram route through the city proper to cope with congested traffic. While the proposals outlined in "The Post" of a recent date are ingenious and have something to commend them, the public is not yet' convinced that the best solution of the problem has been found. The scheme outlined suggests many sharp corners, which are a nuisance to glow-moving vehicles, and a positive danger tp pedestrians and drivel's alike when thpse 'of greater speed have to bo catered for. as npw. Further, it suggests vexatious delays at the point of cress-over at Hunt«r street and at points of intersection with, the present lines.

But the greatest objection to the scheme is that it will not meat the needji of the future, and we have bitter cause to regret-the absence in the past of men of visipn who might have so planned the city that the problems facing it- to-day would not be those of almost colpssal magnitude, the solution of which will tax the brains and coffers of the city tp the uttermost. While we, however, can forgive the mistakes pf the past, our children's children will curse our memories, if, with our enlightened knowledge and the, means at our disposal, we neglect to lay plans that will not only meet our own needs, but provide a sure' foundation on which future generations can build. The city at the present time is passing through a period of tranaitipn frpm buildings of timber to buildings of permanent material, and there never was a time which presented such pppprtunities for making or marring' its future. If these opportunities are neglected or misused, the correction of past blunder?, possible and desirable now, will in the future bo imperative, and yet almest impossible, because of prohibitive cost. Wo know that the rate of growth pf this city will accelerate after the manner pf arithmetic progression, and that its population having doubled itself,' say, in the past twenty years, will double itself again in the next twelve or fifteen. This rate of increase shpuld be measured and planned fpr. Indeed, it is almost now desirable to vision the city's ultimate growth.

In tile light, of the foregoing arguments, let us again refer to the proposals. I£ the finished product were immediately available the present traffic requirements, which have grown lamentably beyond present facilities afforded, would scarcely be. met. What, then, will be the position at the end of the period required for construction? We shall still be far behind the need, and with the'future unprovided for. I now outline a suggested route which offers few of the objections that can be raised to the council's proposal, as net out in your paper, and which, if adopts ed, will be increasingly useful as the years pass. Manners street and Willis street cannot carry much longer the growing burden of traffic of all descriptions they are being asked to bear, and must before long be made a one-way route. In the latter capacity they will meet the need for all time, except that th o ,Duke of Edinburgh corner must bo obtained. At. present a deep-chested policeman is in danger of his life when on traffic duty there. The Duke of Edinburgh should be earmarked lor purchaso as soon as possible, Now, the essentials of a one-way system are these: that ilia " in " and "out" routes for nil traffic should be adjacently parallel, with sufficient intersections for crcßS-ovors for the pedestrian and noprai.l portions. Hero is what I propose lor the " out " route, ;it present to bo laid with a double row of rails, which may bo converted when necessity dictates into a one-way system.

Lambton quay 03 far south as Kelburn r.venue is capable of carrying all traffic for all time. At that point the routes should diverge. Tj the expert mind all abrupt curves should be eliminated. With the faster-moving motor this becomes increasingly imperative, to s;iy nothing of the saving in tho cost of upkeep of rolling stock and lines of.the tramways. On the corner of Grey street and Lambton quay is the building occupied by the Commercial Union °Assuranco Company. This site should ■be obtained before tlie:-erection of a more costly building on it puts it forever out of the reach of the public purse* Carry the route-through Grey street, and then diagonally thrDugh the -Mock botwecn its eastern end and Victoria street, necessitating the purchase and demolition of Bannatyne's building,- the rear lover portion of S;«-gond's warehouse, nnd the necessary intervening property. Costly ? Yes, because' adequate recompense must bo made to the owners and compensation paid to tenants. But well worth while ! I would even recommend withholding all building permits for the

Grey-Panama street block comprising so many old wooden buildings, and which can never be obtained at less cost than now. If this were done, tho new route could intersect diagonally with a garden park and rest seats on either side. What a vista of the Post Office it would afford from Lambton quay! What an opportunity to retrieve the blunder of not reserving the open space almost providentially provided by the great Lambton quay fire in 1906.

Tho rails would then traverse Victoria street, Wakefield street, and Clyde quay square, joining the present route (which incidentally should form a central avenue between Kent and Cambridge terraces) at the Courtenay place terminus. Completed, there would be a grand trunk tram and traffic route" through the city. In years to come, with a new express route along Jervois quay and Wakefield street to carry tho long-dis-tance traffic, and a system of transfer tickets allowing passengers to change trams, Manners street and Willis street would be the " in " route of a one-way system, Victoria street and Wakefield street the " out," improved cross-overs having been provided for vehicles.

This scheme is not too ambitious when it is remembered that in the lifetime of the present "generation the population of the city will in all probability be a quarter of a million, while two generations hence even the million mark may te reached.

I have seen many of the world's great cities (and I have seen Auckland!), but I have never seen another city of such sparkling beauty and with such possibilities of improvement before it as this city of ours. I dwell on its heights and see it under all conditions, and in all its moods; I see it when it ia in angry mood and calm; fickle and sweetly wooing; I see it at night in its fairylike splendour; on occasions I have even seen it at sunrise! I have battled with'its winds, swallowed its dust, and accommodated its waters down my neck when footballers strove, breastroke versus double overarm, in the field, and I love it all. It is because of this love and' in the hop£ that what I have written may arouse in its citizens a deeper pride and added interest that I plac e it before them.—l am, etc., T. H. JAMIESON, ■ „„ , , Citizen. lQth'August.