STREET ZONES

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 26, 30 July 1937, Page 10

STREET ZONES

AID TO SAFETY

MAY BE TRIED HERE

SUITABLE LOCATIONS

The City Engineer (Mr. K. E. Luke), in the course of his talk to city traffic n inspectors last evening, said that he .- proposed to make a recommendation 0 that a trial should be made in Welr lington of safety zones in Wellington t streets similar to those used in praci- tically all Australian cities. The zones there, said Mr. Luke, are " not raised, but are painted on the road ' surface, and may or may not be fur--3 ther marked by removable standards ' carrying discs.. They were used in two general positions, one to divide pedestrian crossing places into two sections, and the other at tram stops. The standards were as a rule taken away at night after the rush was over, but in Adelaide permanent markers, something like the new- beacons at the railway station tram stop platforms, were used. The painted refuges could be put down at little cost, and they were fully covered by Australian city bylaws. Bylaws won't stop cars from overrunning them, said someone. And, continued Mr. Luke, the pedestrian refuges were as fully respected by motorists in Australian cities. He had on no occasion seen- a driver trespass on the marked refuges.. As illustrating the first general use, Mr. Luke mentioned the pedestrian crossing over Taranaki Street from Manners Street to Courtenay Place. In the centre of the roadway a rectangle would be marked between the cross-ing-place lines and could be further indicated by standards and discs. If a pedestrian was unable to get right over the crossing on the change of lights he or'she could wait on the refuge, and could wait, in Australia, safely. In reply to a question as to what widths of streets were so marked, Mr. Luke said that the centre refuges were used where the clearance between the refuge and the footpath was 14 feet and over, so that even in streets quite as narrow as Wellington's the system was adopted. The tram stop zone was painted parallel to the stop, and was about four feet wide. Intending passengers made their way to the zone and stood there. Motor vehicles were not permitted to pass the rear end of the zone while a tram was stopped. He suggested that a trial could be made without delay at several points in the city, as at the Taranaki Street intersection, the Wakefield Street crossing, and in some narrower streets as well. Speaking of general rules and replying to a question whether the righthand rule is observed in Australia, Mr. Luke said that Melbourne had defined main roads, and any motorist coming from a side street hac. to come to a stop before crossing the intersection. Sydney had erected signs to indicate stops for certain streets where that must be done. STREET PARKING GOING. The general opinion in Australia, he continued, was that street parking had to be prohibited in business areas. Melbourne, where there were wide streets, had a system of licensing parking at so much a day, a week, month, quarter, or year, but it was realised that that was only a palliative and that it would have to be stopped. He was in Sydney when, as a result of extremely bad weather, the ferry services were interrupted and there was an additional invasion of cars over the bridge, with consequent increased parking troubles and a hold-up on the bridge for half an hour. In Wellington the parking difficulty was made much more difficult in that there were no nearby open spaces, reserves, and parks where cars could be parked. f In Sydney parking was not allowed g in the busy streets, but quarter or half Q an hour's grace was allowed, and in E certain streets cars were not allowed j to stop, on the inward journey in the j. morning, and outwards in the after- c noon and early evening. j He had heard much discussion as 0 to the claims of different vehicles to v street space, for instance, whether j three motor-cars, with "an average of 1.9 persons a car, were entitled to oc- ( cupy as much road space in the central areas as a tramcar and trailer carrying 129 persons. "Such an aspect must be given full weight when we consider that the city owns the trams and that they are run for the benefit of the greatest number of citizens. The time is fast coming when the .motorists must realise that we may have to enforce rigid conditions as to parking for cne good of the greatest number and for , the safety and comfort of the greatest j number of people." s LIGHTS NEED IMPROVEMENT. c Mr. Luke added that criticism had r been made of the position of traffic l : signal lights at. Taranaki Street and c elsewhere. That criticism, he admit- - ted was justified, for the lights had » been erected with first thought to the motorist and with secondary thought c only to the pedestrian. c "But," the City Engineer continued, "it must be remembered that we were £ the first city in New Zealand to install lights We are not alone in the mis- t takes made in placing lights; there are j lights in Australia almost as bad in ,- that they are so placed as to be of ~ guidance to vehicular traffic only, f However, the present practice there is c to place the lights on standards of a c common style in positions where they t are Teen equally well by both drivers t Mayor, commenting later upon C Mr Luke's suggestion that a trial I should be made of pedestrian refuges t on the roadway, said that such proyis Ton had been suggested previously, but objection had been raised on legal v grounds to "obstructions" on the road- r way. However, he was prepared to J fXw.the lead given by the City of London, where there were islands all over the city and where also the g traffic control was the best in the t world. _________.