THE RAILWAY STATION SITE.

Evening Star, Issue 5073, 9 June 1879, Page 4

THE RAILWAY STATION SITE.

The following correspondence haa been placed at our disposal:—

Public Works Office. -,. _ ~ Wellington, 30th May, 1879. bir,—l am directed by the Minister for Public Works to inform you that the question of accelerating the progress of proposed railway station reclamation works has been fully consirlt. red in all its hearings. Herewith you will receive copy of report by Ei.cuieer in charge of the Middle Island on the subject, from which it wdl be seen that no adequate advantage i s to be gained by adopting tun Hoard s suggestions. Tdio Minister desires to call special attention to tha. part of the report which sets forth that lor all practical purposes the proposed operations oe the Government need not necessarily affect the leading of the Board's endowment so soon as the « is reclaimed from the sea-an opinion m weicn he fully coincides, and to which the Government will be prepared to give effect when occasion arises.—l have, etc.. John Knowles, „, rn Under-Secretary for Public Works. Ihe Chairman of the Otago Harbor Board, Dunedin.

Public Worlds Office, Dunedin, May 17, 1879. p,. wtnedm Station Eeclamation. oir,—l have the honor to acknowledge the raeeyrre of your memo, of this subject, of date April 21, and to submit the following remarks in reply:—

. f have gone very carefully into the matter ; indeed jl had done so before the reclamat'on contract w prepared, and one of the main objects I have had in view all through, into give the Loarcl of whatever land it is to gen with the least possible delay. In order to discuss the matter suocinctly, it wil. be farst necessary to consider what the wishes of die Board are in the matter. From the extracts from the secretary's letters which you enclose, I gather the following : Ist. That the Board assumes " that the present; notoriously inconvenient arrangement, both iortue public and the working of the railways. by Jiese conditions, will be perpetuated for at least three years."

2nd. That the Bo<.rd asserts that it "will be prevented obtaining any return, or making profitable use of the block between Crawford street aud Cumberland street, for three years; and the object in asking for the alteration in the conditions is to enable the Board to obtain at a much earlier date a revenue from its endowment."

3rd. ' The Bo*rd submits a plan for carrying out lhe reclamation, and says that if adopted the line might' be shifted within eight months, tnd that therefore the erection of the new perpi?n?rtt station might be at once gone on with, in.siead of maVing the very costly temporary arrangements now baing irade, which are confessedly only a makeshift."

4th. That there w?u!d be a money saving in adopting the Board's plan. The total to be reclaimed is, approximately, an oblong strip 55 chains long by 8 caams broad. According to the contract the reclamation is to be done in blocks extending across the full width, and commencing at the north end, the following being the various rates ot progress :—Eleven chairs to be finished in six ironths after the contract Is accepted ; 28 CLains in 18 months after the contract it accepted ; and the whole in 33 months after the contract ia accepted. The Board s propo?al is to reclaim the land in three equal longitudinal s; rips of about 2g chains each In width, and the time given for each is the same as intended under the contract for tbe cross-blocks. I shall now consider the Board's statements and proposals in the order above given. Ist. It is not intended to continue the present arrangempnt for three vears. It has all alonbeen the intention to utilise the reclamation as lattiwitwrnade; hence the plan of finishing one block at a lime.

2nd. For all practical purposes the reclamation does not affect the Irving of the biock between Crawford and Cumberland streets. The portions colored red on the plan, and referenced as available for leasing," are not in the slightest degree affected-in fact, the leases are now advertised. As for the portion of the blncks south of Jetty street, it is not yet reclaimed, and there is not the smallest objection to giving the necesßary crossings so soon as the reclamation is made, if the line has not been removed m the meantime.

3rd. It is utterly impossible to rewove the hue within eight months without practically shutting up the railway ; indeed it could not be done if tbe work was limited to the bare reclamation suggested by the Board, for this involve- the removal of about 250,000 cubic yards of earthwork. Besides, the permanent passenger station would require to be finished in the .same time. As for saving temporary contly arrangements, these are now all finished, so that argument goes for nothing. 4th Independently of the question of time ti which I will again refer, the Board's plan is more costly than ourg, as it involves three sea walls instead of one.

According, to the contract the following are tha areas to be reclaimed in the several periods speaified:— Ist block of 6$ acres, in 8 months l m ) » U » io 3rd. ~ 2H „ 15 " By the Board's plan the areas and time would be as follows : Ist block of 12 acres, in 8 months 3rd » lo „ 15 „ I allowed extra time at the commencement tor the contractor to make his arrangements, but the Board gives a-half less time at the commencement than at the finish. By the contract arrangement the ground can be utilued as fast ks it is reclaimed, and all the ii ew station can be finished without interfering in the slightest degree with the present one, or with the working of the railway. Most of the sidings can be laid in. their permanent plsces, the erection of the good-sheds can proceed simultaneously with the second block, and the whole can be finished immediately after the completion of the second block; whereas if the Board a plan is adopted very little of the farst block could be utilised, except for a through line—none of the goods sidings could be laid in their permanent positions. None of the goodsshßds could be gone on with until the second block waa nearly finished and the more important ones, those next the wharves, could not be commenced till the last block is finished. Then the passenger station would require to be commenced immediately. It lies diagonally across the northern side of the prpsent station-yard bo every lme and siding is affected, and the large goods-shed and store would require to be removed at once. In the interval between the erection of the passenger station and the completion of tbe goods station, say two years, the bulk of the Southern traffic would have to be worked by a back shunt from Stuart street, laken altogether, I would not recommend the adoption of the proposal made by the Harbor Board.

There is just one point on which some little explanation is required, and which indicates the direction in which any acceleration can be made, .although not shown by the contract, it was always intended to bring in the through boutnern line as soon as a certain proportion of the goods station was ready. This would accommodate certain classes of goods that come from the South, and relieve the traffic on the present line, but would not hasten the removal of the latter.

I had not fixed the date for making the through line, but thought it would be time enough when the second block was finished It ia possible, however, that it would be an advantage to have it done sooner, and I will arrange accordingly if you so direct; but this does not interfere with the contract now advertised. As already stated, the making of this through line may facilitate the working of the railway and relieve the present line and street crossings, but it will not accelerate the removal of the line from Crawford street, unless the ?,°Z er £ ment wishe3 the bulk of th <3 work, say Id 00,000 worth, done in two years. Independently of the financial considerations to which you refer, I would not advise any Buch huny for the .extensive, accommodation contemplated is not all wanted at once, and the works would be extremely costly if pushed on with undue haste.—l have, etc., (Signed) W. N. Blair, Engineer-in-charge, Middle Island. The Hon. the Minister for Public Works Wellington.