HIGHWAY LIGHTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 18, 22 January 1937, Page 10

HIGHWAY LIGHTS

hutt road stretch

WELLINGTON OFFER

EFFECT ON SHIPPING

The possibility of having the Hut Road between the Petone railwa: crossing and the Hutt Bridge illumin ated by incandescent wire, mercury and sodium vapour lamps as an ex periment in road safety was advance; a stage further at the meeting of tin Hutt Valley Electric Power Board yes terday afternoon at which a lette from the electricity department of th« Wellington City Council was received At a conference of local bodies oi December 10 it was decided to illumin ite a stretch of the Hutt Road as a) experiment. The Power Board, at it December meeting, discussed method >f meeting the cost, and finally decidet o ask the Transport Board if it woul< neet the cost of the experiment. ThL iecision will'probably now be re viewed. The former board, at it neeting yesterday, discussed the pro >able attitude of the Harbour Boaic o the proposal, as the lights mign nterfere with shipping. The general manager of Jne Cix Council electricity department (Mr. M :able) wrote stating that he was unde; he impression that Councillor M. i .uckie and he had made it clear tha t was proposed to recommend tn< ramways and lighting committee t< irovide all the lamps and accessories or the experiment. As the adoptioi if this recommendation meant tna he city was prepared to bear tin naior cost of the experiment, he wa: ;urprised to learn from the Press re >ort of the Power Board s meeting tha nstead of the proposal being approvet t had been decided to request th< Transport Board to bear the cost o. he installation. Mr. Cable said h< rnd learnt that members of the boart vho were present at the conference lad formed the opinion that the city: iffer had been confined to the supply if the mercury discharge lamps anc hat in the event of the experimen >eing undertaken the board wouu lave had to meet'the cost of supply ng both incandescent wire and sodiun iischarge lamps. The recommendatioi 0 the City Council committee cov ;red the supply of all the lamps re luired for the experiment and as thi •ecommendation was adopted thi amps would be made available in th< ivent of the board's deciding to pro :eed with the experimental length o: mercur y discharge lamp: vhich the Department has availabli ire 400 watt units, objection may be nade to the use of such high-poweret amps by the Harbour Board, who, . mderstand, have taken exception t< he three lamps erected in the vicimr >f your office," Mr. Cable concluded 'If it is the intention of the Har jour Board to take exception to thi ise of lamps of high candle powe] vhich may be visible from any quarts >f the harbour, I am afraid the prob em of providing adequate lighting or he highways in the city and Hutt Valey at an economic figure is going to >e a difficult one. This, however, is 1 matter which can remain in abeytnce until the question of proceedng with the experiment has been renewed by your board."

"A MAGNIFICENT OFFER." "It is a magnificent offer," commented Mr. J. W. Andrews after the reading of Mr. Cable's letter. Some discussion ensued on the Haibour Board's attitude to bright street lighting. It was explained that on inspection was made from the harbour, and from a certain position the three mercury lamps erected outside the power board's office on the xiuu Road, Lower Hutt, appeared brighter than the green sector at Somes Island, the lamps showing green. The lamps had since been extinguished. Mr. A. Walker said that Wellington had the worst-lit entrance of any harbour he had seen, and he had been travelling for the past fifty years. He had been expressing this opinion for the past twenty-four years. "This is not a harbour of refuge; it is a fine weather harbour. We have had wreck after wreck at the harbour entrance m bad weather." he said. Mr. G. London pointed out that the Petone Borough Council was erecting walls at the end of two streets at its own expense to protect shipping from the glare of motor-car headlamps. The acting engineer (Mr. J. B. Grey) said that the Ford Company had erected an illuminated sign at a cost of £1200 outside the works in Seaview Road and had been, instructed to put 14 ft"was decided to write to . the Harbour Board stating that the power board proposed to erect experimental lights along a stretch of road and asking 11 it had any objection. . ■