CLOSING OF HUTT ROAD

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 136, 11 June 1942, Page 6

CLOSING OF HUTT ROAD

TRAFFIC ARRANGEMENTS

Many inquiries are being made about the closing of the Hutt Road on Saturday on account of the

United Nations' Day parade,

The Hutt Road, a "Post" reporter was informed today, will be under the control of the military, traffic, and transport authorities from 8.30 a.m., but one side of the road will be available for civilian traffic until 9.30 a.m., after which time normal traffic—car, j lorry, and bus, inward and.outwardwill cease running at the direction of the authorities in control, save in extraordinary cases, which will be met j by the patrols as the need arises. ' The reporter gathered that several j factors made the prohibition of all normal traffic movement necessary. Travelling towards Wellington, the mechanised sections will run at standard travelling separation, but as the assembly area is reached the mechanised sections will close up from aproximately 50 miles of highway to about 20 miles. Even this formation will mean that mechanised units will still be moving into the city from the Hutt i Road when the first sections are run-1 ning from the waterfront roads and ] the ramp to the Hutt Road on the outward journey, about 1 p.m. MUST KEEP OFF STREETS. The Chief Traffic Officer, Mr. L. S: Drake, again emphasised today that people must keep to the footpaths on Saturday morning. The speed of the parade, he said. | would be higher than for other parades and processions, and the mechanised units required wide turning space and should be given the full 'roadway right through the city From certain of the machines the driver's visibility regarding nearby objects was much less than from normal vehicles, and children in particular should be forbidden to stand on the roadway. Foolpaths would be roped off al recognised danger points, one of the worst of which had always been the wide length of Lambton Quay, in the vicinity of Ballance Street, where people pushed forward to see what was happening and what was coming. All turns and corners would be dangerous to people who forgot that caterpillar track machines do not swing round smoothly. ■ • •

Wardens of Areas Nos. 9, 10, and 12 will assist in the control of the public, and a compulsory parade of the traffic section of the E.P.S. has been ordered in support of police and traffic inspectors. . ; •

Between the end of the inarching column, and the commencement of the mechanised parade; there would be a time space of about 15 minutes at the saluting base, said Mr.. Drake. The purpose of this was to enable the troops to march through the city streets to the points where they will turn off before they are overtaken by the faster moving mechanised forces, People watching the parade in Lambton Quay, therefore, must expect a break of some duration, and should not become impatient and move forward. Further along the route the break would be shorter, until, near the infantry turn off, it would.practically disappear

The best supervision, said Mr. Drake, will be exercised by the people themi selves.