The Hutt News Wednesday, June 7, 1947. FOOTPATH CONGESTION

Hutt News, Volume 21, Issue 1, 4 June 1947, Page 7

The Hutt News Wednesday, June 7, 1947. FOOTPATH CONGESTION

Attention Inis been ilrnwn in this eolumn on several oeeasions to the "rent need of something being- «l<me to relievo the nm•jestion on the loot pat Its in High Street at certain periods, especially on Fridays. Surely the lootpaths in no other city or town in New Zealand present such a “higgledy piggledy’’ appearance as Lower Hutt on the busy shoppin«r day, and in no other city or town is it so difficult for pedestrians to make progress. As has been pointed out before, people •rather for a chat in knots in tin* middle of the footpath: bicycles which have been propped against the kerb topple over and spread over the footpath; and in one )>;" tieulnr place crowds oi youths and girls gather on Friday evenings, blocking both the toot path and the entrance to an important road crossing, thus causing delay and. inconvenience to people who have business to transact.

In most towns the police take a hand in keeping pedestrian traffic moving, and anyone stopping to chat in the middle of a footpath receives a pat on the shoulder and a request to move to the edge of the kerb. The congestion in Lower Hutt is particularly ncut« at certain periods, owing to tinbusiness area being so limited compared with the constantlygrowing population, and it is certainly time that the City 1 ouncil made some attempt to deal adequately with what is a very real problem. One hears the word

"city” used very often in connection with Lower Hutt, but the rather hopeless muddle of its footpath traffic, amounting ai times to almost a “free lor all in the attempt to get through the crowds, is certainly a disgrace to a town claiming city status.