AUTOMOBILE ASSN.

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 July 1939, Page 14

AUTOMOBILE ASSN.

GREY BRANCH MEETING.

MANY MATTERS DISCUSSED. The monthly meeting of the executive branch of the Automobile Assn. (Canterbury), last evening, was attended by Messrs P. C. Heaphy (chairman), W. P. Hambleton, S. Quintrell, J. B. Discaciati-(Reefton), B. W. Caulton, E. McDonnell, J. Smith, M. J. Fogarty, Dr. W. McKay, Captains F. N. Whitmore, and E. D. Iles, Mr. W. F. Harley (secretary), and Mr. J. Chapman (patrol officer). A letter was received from the Stationmaster at Greymouth, Mr. G. D. Smart, with regard to a complaint made by a member' of the Association, that, early on the morning of June 24, he had nearly collided with a shunting engine at the Mawhera Quay crossing, and that the engine had no headlight and that the driver had not sounded the whistle when approaching the crossing. . Mr. Smart stated' that he Jiad enquired into the matter, and had found that the driver had sounded the whistle and that a headlight was not required as it was daylight at the time. This statement of the engine-drivei’ was confirmed by the pilotman, who was riding on the cow-catcher of the engine. The pilotman did not notice any motor-car that nearly collided with the engine. Mr. Smart added that he had personally checked up oh the state of the light on the morning of June 24, and was satisfied that .there was no necessity for a headlight at 7.15 o’clock. The letter continued: “I shall be glad if you would disillusion the motorist concerned regarding the responsibility of the engine-driver, in these matters, and point out to him that, had he collided with the engine, he would have definitely been liable to prosecution. It is quite apparent from his own statement that he failed to take any precautionary measures for his own and his passengers’ safety, when he ignored the compulsory stop notice. I would like to point out that, notwithstanding frequent appeals made by the Minister of Transport for a stricter adherence to the traffic regulations, there iS a growing tendency with some motorists to ignore signs provided for their safety, and this is particularly noticeable at Mawhera Quay crossing.” Mr. Fogarty said it was a fact that motorists were required by law to pull up at a railway crossing. It was decided to send a copy of Mr. Smart’s'letter to the member who had made the complaint. WYitirig with regard to the fact that the / ’snow-plough was not .available to cleffr the Otira Gorge road on the occasion of the heavy fall of snow last month, the District Public Works Engineer, Mr. R. Trevor Smith, stated that at the time the bull-dozer, which yvas operated as a snow-plough, was being used on important river control work, which could not be left uncompleted, and if was also necessary to repair the machine before being sent to an isolated place like the Otira Gorge. It would, however, be sent to the Gorge shortly. With regard to the question of lights on the blocked off portions of the Otira Gorge road, the experience. of his department had been that light were' not as effective or as satisfactory as white guiding hoards. Mr. Heaphy said he had had a talk with Mr. Smith, who was very concerned about the discussion which had taken place at the last meeting of the executive. He had assured him that the 1 show-plough had been engaged on important work elsewhere. Dr. McKay: There has been another'heavy fall of snow at Otira. Is the show-plough there now? Mr.- Harley said that the plough was now at the Gorge. He added that snow had been falling there for the past 15 hours.

ROAD TO ALEXANDER RIVER,

Mr. W. J. Hill, a member of the Association, writing from Alexander River, asked if something could not be done to overcome the necessity of fording the Snowy River at two places. After heavy rain this river could be very difficult for motor cars. It was the only bad spot on the 16 miles of road to Alexander River from the main highway, as this stretch of road was now in fairly good order.

Mr. Harley said he had replied stating that this matter had previously been taken up with the Public Works Department, and it was still being investigated. It would shortly be brought to the notice of the Minister of Public Works by. the Inangahual County Council. He did not know that there was much more that the Association could do in the meantime. Mr. Heaphy said that the secretary had gone into the matter with the Inangahua County Council, and also with the Public Works Engineer, Mr. Smith. The cost of the work would be heavy, as two bridges would be required, and, apparently the opinion of the. Public Works Department was that the amount of traffic did not warrant the expenditure. On the whole, therefore, the outlook Was not promising.

' Mr. Discaciati said it seemed nonsensical to spend £22,000 on a road and leave one part of it in an unsatisfactory condition. A heavy shower of rain was sufficient to bring the river up in flood and hold up traffic. No attempt had even been made to put in decent fords. Mr. Heaphy: Would it not be possible to have temporary bridges erected?

Mr. Discaciati: Yes it could be done. Temporary bridges on crates would do. Mr. Heaphy said that a temporary bridge had. been erected at Barrytown some years ago, and had served its purpose quite well.

Mr. Discaciati said that some time ago the Public Works Department had written to the two mining companies in the district, and asked if they would contribute towards the cost of the bridges. Both companies said they would find the money, but nothing further had been done. Since then one of the companies had closed down. He had seen a number of cars stuck at these fords. He had been stuck there himself only a few weeks ago. An old-fashioned high cai’ could get through all right, but it was difficult for the low-set modern cars. Mi. Heaphy said that if some scheme involving a reasonable expenditure could- be- placed before the Public Works Department they might regard it more favourably. KUMARA-MITCHELLS HIGHWAY. A letter was received from Mr. J. Higgins, Grey County Council engineer, stating that about £l5O had been spent on widening the bends and making passing places on the KumaraMitchells highway. He asked for the,

payment of the £5O promised by the Automobile Association (Canterbury) towards the cost of the work. Mr. Heaphy said that; in company with Mr. Harley and Dr. McKay, he had inspected this stretch of road the previous day. The work had been done very well and very thoroughly, and it had been done Without spoiling the scenic value of the road. He moved that a letter should be sent to Mr. Higgins. congratulating him on the work, and that headquarters in Chrjstchurch be asked td'phy the £5O as promised. Dr. McKay agreed that the work had been very well done, and without impairing' the beauty of the road. This piece of road, he added, should not be made too wide, as its charm lay in the fact that it was a comparatively narrow road with bush on either side. ’The motion was carried. WANDERING STOCK. Mr. J. Quinn, mining manager, of Blackball Coal Mines Ltd. wrote complaining of wandering cattle and sheep on the road between Dobson and Greymouth, especially at Kaiata. He said that, recently, a car taking a case into a, maternity hospital, at Greymouth, collided with a cow on the bridge at Kaiata. The accident occurred about 4 a.m. in a fog. He also complained of the very bad railway crossing at the junction of the Blackball branch roadway with the main highway. 1

Mr. Quintrell said he could confirm what Mr. Quinn said about wandering stock. Mr. Discaciati said he had had to pull up four times on his way from Reefton to Greymouth that day, on account St animals wandering on the road.

With regard to the railway crossing complained of, Mr. Harley said that the main road had been widened and brought over to the left with the result that a bad turn on to the railway crossing had been created. Bell mouthing was wanted, and the Railways Department should set back its posts and cattle stops. It was decided to refer the complaint regarding wandering stock to the County Traffic Inspector, and the complaint regarding the /railway crossing to the District Highways Engineer. BLACKBALL BRIDGE. Another complaint made by Mr. Quinn had reference to the delays caused to' road traffic at the Blackball combined road and rail bridge. He said that these were occasioned by lack of co-ordination between the bridge-keeper and the stations at Blackball and Ngahere. Delays of threequarters of an hour had been recorded, and frequently of half an hour. The Ngahere station was only a mile from the bridge, and was visible at all times, and the Blackball station was only two miles away: ' Besides, there was telephonic communication between the bridge and both stations, so that there should be no need to keep traffic waiting unduly. Recently a person who wished to catch the rail-car at Stillwater, at 6 p.m.,,had missed the connection through being held up at this bridge. .

Mr. Heaphy: It is news to me that there is a keeper on this bridge. When is he on duty? • Mr. Harley: After dark. Mr. Heaphy said that the only thing they could do was to take the matter up with the Railways Department. Mr. Quintrell said that, on a recent Saturday, he was held up at the Blackball bridge for 25 minutes, from 7.25 p.m. to 7.50 p.m. Mr. Heaphy: That verifies the complaint made by Mr. Quinn. It was decided that the secretary should take up the matter with the Railways Department. Mr. J. M. Stewart, a member of the Automobile Association (Canterbury), wrote complaining of apparent unnecessary delay caused by the early closing of the Teremakau bridge. In company with a head office executive, he required to keep an appointment at Hokitika, and as the train had just left Greymouth shortly before they had, they anticipated no trouble in doing this. They passed the train just before Paroa, and increased their speed, hoping to reach Teremakau before the bridge .was closed. They knew , the train had several stops to make. When they arrived, the gate was closed, and the gate-keeper was walking back along the railway line behind the gate. They knew it would be useless to ask the keeper to let them through, so they waited. They were held between 20 and 25 minutes before the gates were open. They thought this time much too long, and that it was due to the fact that the keeper had no definite knowledge of where the train was after it left Greymouth, If he had then he did not make use of it. As there were so very few horsedrawn vehicles on the roads to-day, they thought the bridge should not be closed longer than 10 minutes before the actual arrival of the train. They felt that these hold-ups z were unnecessary in most cases, and should be brought to notice.

Mr. Heaphy said that, since the previous complaint about the Teremakau Bridge, the Railways Traffic Manager had tried to put things on a better basis at this bridge and his efforts in this connection had given general satisfaction.

On Hie motion of Dr. McKay, it was agreed that a copy of Mr. Stewart’s letter should be sent to the Railways Department. COBDEN BRIDGE. The Greymouth Borough Engineer. Mr. A. J. Fairmaid, forwarded copies of reports which he had presented to the Borough Council, dealing with the question of improving the northern approach to the Cobden Bridge, and the question of an overhead bridge at the railway crossings at the south end of the bridge. Both these reports have already been published.

With regard to the report dealing with the south end of the bridge, Mr. Heaphy said it was pleasing that they had reached a point where the engineers concerned had got together and considered the matter. It was also pleasing to note that the elimination of these dangerous crossings was quite practicable from an engineering point of view,-and that the engineers considered that the work was necessary. This necessary improvement was, however, dependent on the new layout of the Greymouth station yard, and presumably it would be brought under review when the new layout was being considered. In the meantime, it was their duty to keep the matter alive.

Dr. McKay said he did not see that it was necessary-to-eombine the problem of the north end of the bridge with that of the south. They were quite separate problems. Mr. Heaphy: The two reports are quite separate. Dr. McKay. The reports do not mention anything about costs? Mr. Heaphy: No.

Dr. McKay said he thought some-

thing could be done straight away to improve the north end of the bridge. It should not be a very expensive job. Mr. Harley said that it had been represented to him that Cobden Bridge was becoming dangerous on Sundays especially when there was a. football match at Wingham Park. Quite re cently, after a match, there had been considerable congestion, and it appeared that a traffic inspector should be stationed at the north end of the bridge at such times, otherwise there might be a serious accident. It was decided that the two reports should be received. GROWTH OF THE BRANCH. Mr. Harley said that, as this meeting was the last before the annual meeting, he would like to give a few figures showing the growth of the Grey branch. Since he was appointed 10 months ago, the patrol officer, Mi. J. Chapman, had done very good work indeed. He had enrolled 500 new members. Over 300 of these were from Greymouth, over 100 from HokiHka, and the balance from Westport and Reefton. During 'the present month, Mr. Chapman had unrolled 47 new members. He had erected eight road signs, given assistance to 15 motorists and travelled 1400 miles, going as far south as Bruce Bay. The membership of the branch last year, was 461. To-day, it was over 800. This allowed for members who had resigned, died, or left this district. In reply to a question from Mr. Hambleton, Mr. Harley said that over 2000 cars were registered in Greymouth, so that a good many motorists were “riding on the pig’s back.” - Mr. Chapman said that another point to remember was that, in some cases, two or more members of a family belonged to the Association, though they had only one car between them. A husband would often make his wife a full member.

It was decided that the annual meeting should be held on August 22. Mr. Heaphy said he expected there would be a large attendance as a result of their increase in membership. He anticipated that many new members would come along to get acquainted with the work of the branch. COMPULSORY DIPPING. Mr. Heaphy said he would like to remind members that a number of new regulations, including compulsory dipping of heallights, would come into force on July 20.

Dr. McKay said that he would certainly not recommend motorists to dip their lights in Tainui Street, unless another motorist signalled to them to do so, for a motorist who dipped his lights in that street ran a great danger of failing to see the übiquitous cyclist, until he 'had run into him, and then it was too late. He would like to know whether dipping was to be optional or compulsory in Tainui Street.

Mr. Heaphy: I should, say optional. The regulation says ■> that dipping is compulsory if the street lights are such that a substantial object and the nature of the road surface is clearly visible at a distance of 150 feet. Dr. McKay: I am not a. surveyor, and I am not going to get out of my car to measure off 150 feet. The point is what are we to do in Tainui Street? Personally I think in that street a motorist should dip if another motorist signals him to do so, but not otherwise.

Mr. Chapman: The Traffic Inspectors 1 are going out on Saturday to clean up those who do not dip. Dr. McKay said that, if an inspector stood on a, corner and watched two cars approaching from opposite directions and neither of them dipped, how could he say that they should have dipped?

Mr. Chapman said the inspectors would go round in cars, and catch motorists who did not dip when signalled to do so.

Dr. McKay: That is different. It is a matter of common courtesy to dip if another motorist gives the signal. Mr. Caulton said that, personally, he thought it would be wiser for motorists to drive with their lights permanently dipped down High and Tainui Street. If they found that they could not see too well, then they should reduce speed. When asked if he thought there was any chance of getting the street lighting in Tainui and High Streets improveed, Mn Heaphy said that, owing to the state of the Borough finances, he did not think it would be easy to induce the Council to spend money. Writing with regard to the improvement of lower Gresson Street, the Greymouth Borough Engineer, Mr. A. J. Fairmaid, said that a proposal had been submitted to the District Railways Engineer, Christchurch, and further action awaited his reply. With regard to the erection of white posts to warn traffic of a creek on the Bell Hill road, past Forest Hill, Mr. J. Higgins, engineer of the Grey County Council, wrote stating that posts would be erected shortly, and that four cat’s eyes, which the Automobile Association had agreed to supply, would be required.