SUMNER TRAMWAY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXX, Issue 8557, 10 August 1888, Page 3

SUMNER TRAMWAY.

TO THE EDITOR. ffiSiß, —In your issue of to-day you have raven a general description of the above but I do nob think you have made Quite clear what I believe is the fact with regard to the proposed method of construction for a distance of over a quarter of a on the Christchurch side of Sumner, inhere the liigh cliffs overhang the road. I iMperstand that, according to the contract Jfiilet, the tramway is to he laid at this grace on the present road, and inside of the gSisting sea wail; and that the road is to widened for ordinary traffic on the 'jiaside by cutting away the accumulated debris under the cliffs for a width of from ligft to 20ft. This is certainly handicapping the ordinary traffic very heavily, and ijhuat be a fruitful source of accidents, l&nless the Sumner Town Board mean to '.Close the road for all but tramway purposes. It is only reasonable to suppose •that the debris from the cliff will continue to come down in the future as it has done in the past, greatly accelerated indeed by the excavations at the base. This will be a constant danger, while at the same time ordinary vehicles will run an additional risk through being more immediately under the cliff than is now the case. The vibration caused by an engine, and, say three loaded carriages, may have also a disintegrating effect. The Sumner Town Bo4rd would seem to have paid no regard to the convenience of ordinary vehicle traffic, of which there will always be a considerable amount. It seems to me that it ought to have been made a sine qu‘d non that the tramway should be constructed, at this particular place at least, entirely outside the present road. If I am mis-informed, I hope Mr Warner will give an assurance to that effect. The matter is a very important one to trap-owners and the public generally, not merely for the present time, hut for the next twenty-one years.—l am, &c., August 9. . JEHU.