FOOTBALL CROWDS

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

FOOTBALL CROWDS

PLANS DRAWN UP

NOT A BED IN WELLINGTON

CAR PARK SUGGESTION

Wellington is in for a record traffic problem on August 7 and a new record one week later for the first Test against the Springboks, but plans are being drawn up well ahead for the rapid handling of traffic. Cars will be the biggest problem, far exceeding tramway transport difficulties. It is estimated that 4000 drivers will want to take their cars near Athletic Park. They will not be able to do so, for 4000 cars will stretch out along about sixteen miles of roadside and there are not sixteen miles of roadside about the park. Moreover, a good part of the space which motorists would like to occupy will be barred to them altogether, for in order to keep the roadways open for quick get-away of walkers and tram passengers parking will be prohibited in the main routes near the park, and from 4 p.m. onwards car traffic will be prohibited in Rintoul Street between Riddiford and Waripori Streets. A full force of traffic inspectors will be on duty, practically every intersection being under control, and the general plan will be to spread motor traffic to east and west of the direct routes into town (Riddiford Street and Adelaide Road), not only, for the benefit of pedestrians and tram running, but for the safety and more rapid clearance of the cars themselves. TRAMWAY SERVICES. Every available 'ram will be used for transport to and from the park, said Mr. D. McGillivray, tramway traffic manager, today, but there were limitations to what the department could do, for the rolling stock was limited and other services had to be maintained to meet suburban passengers' requirements, for it was not merely a matter of carrying people to and from the park from the city but of bringing them from their homes and carrying them to the outer suburbs after the matches. Various amendments to the regular Saturday afternoon services were under consideration and full notice would be given if alterations were decided upon. One probable alteration of running would be that Island Bay cars would be concentrated upon the park during the periods of heavy traffic and that the connection with Island Bay would be continued by buses. "The difficulty will not be in getting people out to the park, for that will be spread over the whole morning and the early afternoon," said Mr. McGillivray. "The tramway problem will come when everyone wants to get away at once. It is plain that they will not all be able to ride, but every car that can be used will be ready for them and the tramway problem will be' very much eased if motor traffic falls in with the plan for keeping the direct routes as clear as possible and , if pedestrians will keep clear of the tramway tracks." : A' further tramway difficulty will arise when the special trains running : to Wellington on both Main Trunk , and Wairarapa lines deliver a few . hundred passengers in. such a hurry . to get to the park that they won't even j notice the new station. Suburban'bus. services will be augmented within ' the limitations of rolling stock. hotels and boarding-houses ~:■:■. full. If the. proprietors of Wellington ; hotels and boarding-houses had got ' together and decided upon a stock ■ answer, their answers to inquiries made by a "Post" reporter as to book- ' ings, for the two weekends could not ; have been more of a pattern; there were small variations,, but what they ■ all meant was: "Not a bed left, nothing ■ doing." In a few cases they held out hopes of being able to make up a shake-down or two for Saturday night, : but most of the shake-downs have been booked up also. Wellington, in spite of its reputation as a city with an unusual percentage of transient and civil servants who do not settle long enough to consider homes of their own, has comparatively few boarding-houses today, though it has probably more apartment dwellers t'lan any other city in the Dominion. Apartments, however, do not offer much to people who come into town for one crowded night or weekend, and there is every probability—amounting to certainty—that many people who come to Wellington for the Springbok matches without having made sure of accommodation are going to find themselves in a .bad fix, unless they decide to turn for home immediately. A suggestion was made to the reporter that ■ the summer car park at Lower Hutt should be opened for th? week or ten days, from August 6 to '. 16 or thereabouts, and advice given to intending motorist visitors through the ' Press that parking.facilities would be i available. Though tent camping would not be too comfortable at this time of the year, a great many cars are now fitted with let-down seats for sleepin?, and the cooking difficulty might be overcome,. it was suggested, by the erection of dining marquees and arrangements for the supply of a light breakfast and possibly tea. It was recognised, however, that there was a . good deal of a gamble about it, for ■ bad weather would leave the con- , tractor with plenty of arrangements : and no profits. ;