The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 1928. THE ARCADE PROPOSAL.

Evening Star, Issue 19855, 2 May 1928, Page 6

The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 1928. THE ARCADE PROPOSAL.

Quite a number of questions have been revived by a recommendation to come before the City Council to-night for the purchase of the Arcade. One of those questions is that of tile public’s rights to it as a thoroughfare; In view of the purpose to which the City Corporation would put the property if purchased, whatever rights may exist through usage do not seem to be of great consequence. The Arcade has never been used for vehicular traffic, and we have never heard it contended that it could so be used. The object of the proposed purchase is to open up a street between High street and .the foot of Maclaggan street, and the question for the council to decide is whether the advantages would be commensurate with the outlay involved. In other parts of the city the corporation has gone in for expenditure designed •to divert a proportion of traffic from Princes street. Whatever the success achieved it seems probable that an alternative direct route from the foot of Stafford street to Rattray street, via Manse street and the present Arcade site, would relieve congestion in the section of Princes street most urgently in need of relief. If the corporation authorities are convinced that such traffic diversion would be worth while, the main point for decision is whether the piesent is the opportune time. Unquestionably the increasing use of the motor vehicle suggests that postponement would only mean aggravation of the inconvenience, if not actually the danger, arising from the overtaxing of the section of Princes street concerned. Postponement might also involve a far greater outlay when traffic necessity compels the opening up of the new street. In other cities, such as Sydney, the remodelling of the streets to cope with increased traffic has necessitated the acquirement of sites on which business premises stand. At present that additional expense in respect of the Arcade is a minimum. Along its live chains length there is a clear space of 80ft between the shops on either side. But, as fairiy recent negotiations for change of ownership have suggested, that condition may not continue indefinitely in the future. So, apart from the usual appreciation of laud values in the heart of a business town, there is a far more weighty financial argument against putting off action —that is if the conviction is that the project must eventually be carried out. As to the price, it has been argued that eigljt years ago the property changed hands at only £15,000; but it has to be remembered that in a manner of speaking that was a forced sale because of the necessity of winding up a partnership, while to the actual purchase price there was added a considerable expenditure on improvements effected by the purchasers. It may perhaps be of interest to mention that as long ago as 1883 a valuation njade of three quarter-acre sections (coniprising the half-acre which it is proposed the City Corporation should now acquire and convert into a street five chains long and one chain wide) put the figure at £21,000 for the land only. There appears to be no need of any feeling of compunction among city councillors in consenting to put before a latepayers’ poll a proposal to acquire hall an acre of land in the heart of the city for £22,000. It is for the ratepayers to finally decide whether the proposed city improvement is wortn teat expenditure, plus the seemingly liberal allowance of £4,600 for road and footpath construction (£9OO per chain;. The objection as to the creation ol danger points at the intersections of the new thoroughfare with the High street and Rattray street cable trams might be met by removing the tram terminus in each case a short distance up the hill, which would again tend to minimise the Princes street congestion that is really at the root oi the present proposal.