EAST AND WEST

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 151, 30 June 1928, Page 17

EAST AND WEST

THE ACCESS REPORT WHICH 11OTJTE FIRST ? BOWEN STREET AND TUNNEL : Tiic City. Oouncil last evening discussed at considerable length tlie report of ,tlic Access Commission, the main point at issue being whether: the Bow3)i street routo shoald bo undertaken first, or whether Bowen street and the new tunnel .to the eastern suburbs should be carried out, given the authority of ' the ratepayers, simultaneously. It was generally agreed that the other proposals, though valuable and sound; were works to be, spread over a considerable period. Finally, it was .decided that both proposals, Bowen street and the new, ■ tunnel, should go to. the ratepayers together. " . .". ' The council had for consideration one of.the, most important reports over laid on ,the table, said the Mayor (Mr. G. A. Troiip). The live engineers who composed the Commission were men oi! high standing, who had given a great deal of time and close study to the problems, and the council should therefore give full weight to their recommendations. For his part he intended to accept the report in toto, and he would 'move-in- that direction. The proposals involved a huge sum of money, but the Commission had indicated that its proposals :werc, for a programme to be spread; over a considerable period of time; to be carried out as circumstances might permit. The'; council should, however, continued ; Mr. Troup, proceed soon with .-oiie of the works. The Commission had recommended that the Bowen street route, should be first undertaken, and he agreed. The Commission had put its linger on -the weak spot of city transport. Furthermore, the Bowen street route would effect a great saving in tramway haulage, but that would. not obtain in the case of the eastern suburbs proposal. The eastern suburbs tunnel, .the. Norway.'street route, and cable car proposal should not, in his opinion, be undertaken until the Bowen street deviation had been dealt with. 2io matter which of the works proposed was decided upon as a starting point, a loan would be essential. Mr. Troup, moved: —(1) ( That the council place on record its appreciation of the services of the Access Commission, and thank the chairman and each member for the valuable report which had been supplied; (2) that the report generally be accepted as a programme of.work to be considered from time to time as the.finances of the council permit; (3) that the first work to be undertaken be the Bowen streot-Tinakori road deviation, after which access by tunnel to. the eastern suburbs receive | next; consideration; (4) that the City Engineer be instructed to prepare detailed plans and estimates,of the Bowen street deviation with a view to obtaining, at.an early date a poll authorising the necessary cost; and that negotiations be entered into with the Internal Affairs! Department with a view to making! arrangements necessary to permit of the construction of street works through', the Bolton Street Cemetery, and.in order, to obtain any legislation necessary, to. give effect to that proposal^ :: •• - : „.■"•' ■■' " ■■■ EAST AND WEST TOGETHER. ! The Commission's report, said Councillor G. ; M.itchell,- had,; settled the, old problem'of • improved access, and tlie council would be wise to stick to the report. To deviate from the proposals would be to open up the old controversy all over again. Kef erring to the Bowen street;proposal, Councillor Mitchell said that that, work was the more feasible in that big savings would be made for tho tramways department. Did; the Mayor-propose' that the £78,000 required/for Bowen street should all be raisedib"y loan, or were funds otherwise available? ■ ' " A loan would be unavoidable, said Mr. Troup..Did the< Mayor. suggest, again asked Councillor, Mitchell, that a loan should bo- raised for Bowen street aud the eastern suburbs tunnel together? The two loans, said the Mayor, should be-taken separately. Councillor Mitchell said that he thought that would bo unwise. There would be a better chance of having both items' carried than of having one only accepted by the ratepayers. .'. The Mayor replied that he was strongly of. the opinion that the Boweu j street proposals should be carried into effect, first. There was £101,250 available for an eastern suburbs tunnel, but that could' not provide the access rc(|uired. The.people to the east of Mount Victoria particularly wanted roadway access through the hill, arid it might be possible to proceed with such a tunnel with the £161,250 available,. and a loan for another1 £40,000 "or £50,000, the full tunnel to be completed later. The city already had. heavy loan commitments and the council should not move in such a way as to overload it. Councillor Mitchell maintained that j it would bo1 sounder to place both Bowen street and ,the eastern tunnel proposals before the ratepayers at the samo time. Certainly the carrying out of these works would.mean an increase in ;rates, but he fully believed that the ratepayers would not object if they recognised that a true city improvement was to be-brought about. He expressed the opinion that the tunnel width recommended, 28ft Gin, would be inadequate for future traffic requirements. After again urging that the two proposals should be put forward together,. Councillor Mitchell referred ■briefly to the Norway street and cable car .proposals, and said that these wero plainly works for the.future. SHOULD GO TOGETHER. Councillor J. Burns said that most of the report could be culled from records in the 'engineer's office at the present moment. He was disappointed that. something of an original nature was not contained in the report. There was a feeling among some engineers that a tunnel to. the western suburbs was just as essential as a tunnel to the eastern suburbs. He agreed with the importance of the Bowen street deviation as a necessary work. He agreed with Councillor Mitchell that a combination of two loans should bo made. Unless a proposal was. put embracing both suburbs, there was no hope of carryings either proposal. This was a question of east and west; what were Wellington South, Wellington North, and Wellington Central going to say? The scheme should be adopted wholly and, solely just as far as it provided access to the eastern and western suburbs. He was quite prepared to support a; loan for the completion -of the works which had been promised in those districts for so many years. Ho' believed it would be good business to purchase the Kelburn trams. It was proposed that a 66ft road should be provided for eastern access and a 49ft Gin road for western access; it was essential that a 66ft road should be provided for-.the western suburbs, where a large tract; of Makara land was available for settlement. Councillor E. Semple said that if the works were separated and tho western suburbs work only proceeded with, it would be side-stepping. There would be more chance of the proposals being carried if both questions wero tackled at the same time. If the population was gpreading, then tho council had to see

that tlie people received the smartest and cheapest access to the city. Both proposals wero needed for tho development of the city. Ho considered that the jobs should be tackled m a big way. It would' help the unemployed also. : . ■ . .:,'■. NORWAY STREET FIRST! Councillor B. G. 11. Burn remarked that tho distance from Karori to tlie G.P.O. was 172 chains by both Bowen street and via Norway street and a tunnel. -.He--maintained- that the Norway 'street proposal ■ should precede Bowen street, particularly'as the Norway strct route would work in' with tho Patterson street tunnel. .Vurtherniorc, tlie. provision of a route to Karori via Norway, street would greatlyvolievc tramway traffic through the city streets. Already Karori cars wore badly overcrowded, and when trams ran to Northland, and the buses were taken oft', the position would be made very much worse. Karori people would Lie able to reach the centre of the city very much quicker via. Norway street, than by.-Bowen street. , Councillor Luckie, after referring to the fact that the bulk of the recommendations; had been before the council in one report or another from tlie council's own officers, said that he agreed with those who had urged that, both eastern and' western access proposals should be placed before the ratepayers together. Bowen street would probably be the simplest and least expensive of- the western routes, but he could Hot see how the council could give that route precedence over the eastern tunnel in view of past promises of tho council. Those promises must bo honoured. Councillor Luckie said that he was pleased that the Commission had recommended the purchase of the Kelburn car; it would be a very profitable system under municipal management. , DUPLICATING THE CABLE TRAMS. Councillor W;. H. Bennett supported the Mayor's'resolution, because it committed the council to only two matters in order of precedence. The Willis street proposal took precedence, in his opinion, to the purchase of the Kelburu car, on account of the large sum involved. The purchase of the Kelburn car would cost £45,000; duplication £90,----000, aiid the purchase of frontages to Lamb/ton quay £20,000. Councillor C. D. Morpeth agreed that the report was an extremely valuable one. Councillor W.H. Bennett's advocacy of a second cable car had much to recommend it. - Both eastern and western access proposals should be put forward together, said Councillor Huggins. The second tunnel through Mount Victoria was an" absolute necessity. If the Bowen street proposal alone was put forward the people of the eastern suburbs, being human, would voto against it. Both eastern and western suburbs required immediate attention, said Councillor M'Kcen, but if the council was bound down- to one proposal, the other would be shelved again. Was not the position that the second tunnel through Mount Victoria would be a,tramway extension, and that interest and sink.ing fund would-be largely met out of tramway icvenue.' The ratepayers, however,; were being led to believe that the whole of the cost would fall upon them. Tramway revenue would meet most of that cost. The Mayor: "Oh, absolute nonsense." Councillor M'Keen maintained that the trannvay '.department would have to meet interest and sinking. funds. . The. Mayor: '.'lt would'bear the cost of laying tram tracks." Councillor M'Keen: "And maintenance; .and the tracks would occupy a big part of the tunnel." The Mayor: "Yes, and a very small part of the total." Councillor M'Koon moved as; an amendment to the Mayor's motion that the last three clauses should bo- roplac-' ; cd by clauses.to the effect that thol,provision of eastern and western access should be undertaken simultaneously; that preparations should be made to take a poll immediately; and that the City Engineer should be instructed to prepare detailed plans and estimates lor both undertakings. • ■-.*'■. Councillor W. J. Gaudin advised that access to the eastern suburbs should take priority. £161,250 had already been .voted, and this, with plus 10 per cent., making £177,375, would be sufficient to provide a traffic tunnel without trams. They did not want trains. He would support the amendment. Councillor J. Burns suggested that Councillor M'Keen should add to his amendment 'fby Bowen street on the one hand and by Patterson street on tho other hand." ', " ' : Councillor T. C. A. Hislop said he would like the Mayor's resolution to contain instructions that plans should be ■ prepared for western and eastern access. BOWEN STREET FIRST. There was an obligation upon the council to give consideration to access for the eastern suburbs, said Councillor H. D. Bennett. There could bo no further battle of routes, and the council had in the past given what amounted to an undertaking that a tunnel would be put through. Still, that was no reason why. the Mayor's motion should not-be carried. Councillor Semple: "And do the tunnel later?" ; What the Mayor proposed, continued Councillor Bennett, was that the council should ask its officers for plans, and estimates for the work which in the opinion of the Commission fjhould be the first undertaken. "No such recommendation was iriade," said Councillor Hislop. "All that the Commission said was that Bowen street should be the first new route to the west." As to" his attitude regarding the new tunnel through Mount Victoria, continued Councillor Bennett, he would not in any way oppose any move to raise money, over and above the £161,250, to make the tunnel possible, but Bowen street should" take precedence, because it would replace a shorter route already decided upon by the council, viz., the Hill street route. If a roadway was to go through the Sydney Street Cemetery legislation would be required. There was further discussion upon what the Mayor's resolution meant. Councillor Bennett maintained that it would not bind the council to Bowen street alone; that could bo decided when the council was considering the taking of a poll. Councillor Hislop said that ho certainly, did not read it in that way. ■ ■.. . .-, ;.- THE MAYOR'S AMENDMENT. The Mayor said he was prepared to delete sections. 3 and 4iof his resolution and substitute that the first works to be undertaken be the Bowen street route to the western suburbs and the eastern suburbs tunnel, and that the engineers be instructed to prepare the necessary plans, aiid that a poll be then taken at the one time for those two works after the necessary sanction had been obtained. . . ! Councillor M'Keen said he was prepared to agree to that on. the understanding/that both'works would be put through at tho same time. . Mr. Troup said, in answer to further questions, that the polls would be taken at the samo time, and that there would bo an understanding that both works would be taken together. The Mayor's amended motion was carried unanimously.