CITY TRAFFIC

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 102, 26 October 1929, Page 10

CITY TRAFFIC

SOME MORE BYLAWS

PRESENT DUAL CONTROL

CITY OFFICERS ONLY?

The City Council has decided upon two further traffic bylaws.. The first is to prohibit the parking of cars on the south side of Courtenay place, between 3 Cambridge terrace and Tory street, and ' the second is to prohibit motor-cars from parking across pedestrian crossing places in city streets.. J A third important recommendation ' adopted by the council on Thursday ■ evening was that-further consideration ■ should be given at a later date to the" | question of taking over from the Police j Department the control of traffic at i street intersections. This matter of points control has been ] under consideration off and on for a ' long time past, not only in Wellington, but in other centres also, particularly 1 Christchurch and Auckland, where the control is now wholly in the hands of ; city officers. UNSATISFACTORY ABRANGEMENT. Wellington's dual control points con- ' stables at the Lambton quay-Willis ! street, Willis street-Manners street, and Manners street-Cuba street intersec- ; tions, and city ofiieers at the wharf gates, Taranaki street-Wakefield-street, ; Taranaki street-Courtenay place, 7 and John street points, is evidently not re- ' garded as satisfactory by either the City Council nor the Police Department, ' and, on the face of it, dual control is always less satisfactory and efficient i than a comprehensive single control. Some years ago an agreement was en- ' tered into between the council and the Police Department whereby the Department should take over points control duties at three points, and there was ar understanding that the city, should not appoint officers for point duties. Later, following a series of accidents resulting from ever-increasing traffic through Courtenay place, an additional points constable was stationed at that spot, and city officers also took up traffic control work. When the light signals were instituted at Courtenay place, the fourth constable was for a time stationed at the Taranaki street-Man-ners street crossing, but this point is now under the supervision of eity officers. The old agreement, upon expiring, was renewed in somewhat amended form, and again ran out, so that at the present time, apparently, there is no actual agreement between the council and the Police Department, the police control being maintained in accordance with the old terms. PROPOSITION NOT ACCEPTABLE. Some time ago, it was generally' understood, proposals were in the air for th„ ? oUce De Partment to take over the whole control, upon terms very similar to those set out in the Original agreement of 1913 or thereabouts, but apparently the idea did not greatly, appeal to the Department; the financial arrangement, for one thing, leaves a considerable gap between the outgoings of the Department and the annual payment per point by the council, and were the police to lay informations under the city bylaws—as no doubt the council would require in the event of the police taking over full control, the City Treasury would benefit considerably, whereas the amount credited to hte Police Department as payments to the State Treasury would climb not at all, for fines imposed under local authority bylaws go to the local authority. Another probable reason for a disinclination of the Police Department to take over the whole city traffic control is that members of the force are already fully occupied, for no sooner are additions made to the strength than demands flood in from North and South Islands for additional police for- this city and that township. If, then, single control is desired by the City Council, it would appear that city officers must do the job. The introduction of the light signal control, at Courtenay place is to be followed shortly by similar controls at the points now supervised by the police and at the Taranaki-Manners street crossing, thus reducing the number of men required and, presumably, also the cost of points control. There is no question of the efficacy of control by the lights, for at Courtenay place, the city's most dangerous crossing formerly, real order has been brought about, and the pedestrian, moreover, walks with less trembling and more safety. Whether, with automatic control at the main points, general traffic control by city officers would work out cheaper to the city than the present arrangement remains to be seen, but fairly clearly it would work out less expensively to the Police Department, which is a steady loser on the present basis. AN ENDLESS 08. There would remain any amount of work for traffic officers to do, even though they were . relieved of points work—by lights or by any other system —for Wellington's traffic bylaws,'are treated in the easiest manner by a great .many motorists. Every so often there is a great outcry at the council table of the congestion in certain of the narrower streets—Tory street is a favourite— and for about one week some sorb, of order is brought about, but in that week warehouse doors elsewhere are blocked, cars cut corners, "parking*prohibited" notices aro treated with supreme contempt, and another street, for instance, the narrowest part of Wellington terrace, at the top of Woodward street, becomes narrowed down some more, and then, while these several faults are being remedied, Tory street is nicely jammed up again. "" AND CROSSING PLACES. The bylaw which is to be framed to prohibit motor-cars from parking across pedestrian crossing places is plainly necessary, but to bo consistent the council must also bring in some rule regarding tramcars stopping dead across these lanes, for that happons in several parts of the city, for instance, at the main stop for No. 7 cars at the Post Office. The crossing place lines lend a pleasing variety to the generally monotonous surface of the roadway, particularly when done iu rustless steel discs, as near the Ferry Wharf, or bright yellow rubber strips, as at Lambton Station," but as pedestrians take very little notice of them, as they aro never direct-, ed to do so, and as it is just as painful to be knocked over inside the lanes as outside them, the return for the considerable amount of money expended in laying the lines down is doubtful. A few people have an idea that it is forbidden for a driver to knock them down while they are crossing at a marked crossing placo: the idea is a good one, but in practice it is unwise to follow it blindly. If at some future date a ' system of control is devised to see that pedestrians do use these crossing places , they will have a great deal more value than they havo at the present time.