CITY TRAFFIC CONTROL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22071, 29 March 1935, Page 14

CITY TRAFFIC CONTROL

COMMITTEE'S PROPOSALS four more officers CONSIDERATION DEFERRED Improvements to the city's traffic control system were recommended to the City Council last night as the result of a full investigation of tho Traffic Department by tho Legal and By-laws Committee, which had before it a comprehensive report by the chief traffic inspector, Mr. G. R. Hogan. The two reports being long and detailed, the council deferred consideration of the matter until its next meeting three weeks hence. The principal recommendations wero as follows: — (1) That automatfo traffic signal systems be further investigated, and that in the meantime tho uniformed staff of 18 be increased by four men. (2) That tho Traffic Department's motor equipment bo augmented by two up-to-date motor vehicles of high rato or acceleration, and that the obsolete vehicles bo disposed of. (3) That High Street (entrance from Victoria Street East) and Vulcan Lane (entrance from High Street) bo declared one-way traffic streets. Control of Pedestrians (4) That High Street, Vulcan Lane, Chancery Street and O'Connell Street be declared non-parking areas. (5) That tho attention of the Minister of Transport be directed to the multiplicity of licensing authorities and consequent inconvenionco causod to applicants fpr licences, etc., duplication of control and loss of revenue to the council. (6) That a by-law bo made to compel pedestrians using street crossings on which a traffic officer is on duty to obey tho signals of such officer. The committee endorsed a previous decision of the council that three extra traffic junctions required to bo manned, namely, Upper Queen Street and Kara- , ngaliapo Road, Wakefield Street and Queen Street, Great North Road and Ponsonby Road. Further Findings The committee also expressed the following opinions:— That tho whole staff of the Traffic Department was mere than fully employed and that its work was satisfactory. _ That the supervision of motor-cycles in regard to speed and noise was urgent and required two high-powered motor-cycles or small cars. That moro, crossing-lines for pedestrians were required at the congested corners of Queen Street and Karangahapo Road and speeds of motors should i be reduced .in these areas. That service cars should be removed from Customs Street. That parking facilities must be curtailed in Queen Stroet during the day and in Karangahaps Road on Friday evenings. That the office accommodation provided for the Traffic Department was very inadequate and was a hindrance to increased efficiency. Eight Years' Traffic Growth Regarding tho increase in tho department's work, the committee stated that up to November, 1926, when the police relinquished traffic control, the staff numbered 17. At that stage 18 extra men should have been engaged to man the nine points, but the number employed was 12. The staff thus became inadequate, and its strength had since been increased by three. Since 192G, Avondale, Orakei and Tamaki had been added to tho city, involving extra work. The number of registered motor-cars had grown from 11,000 to 23,259, with equivalent increases in service cars, motor-cycles and latterly pedal cycles, all requiring supervision. The police had declined to continue controlling traffic at race meetings and large sports gatherings outside the city boundaries, and this work was being done by the department. Tholatter was responsible for the collection of heavy traffic licence fees for the metropolitan area and the \\ aitcmata, Manukau and Franklin counties. Its other duties in regard to traffic and various forms of licences made a long list. Inadequate Car Fleet In the course of his report, Mr. Hogan stated that automatic signalling systems, particularly thoso operated by the vehicles themselves, should be further investigated, although he considered that automatic control would not bo warranted in Auckland for six years. The department's motor vehicles wero inadequate. Two of tho cars were obsolete and all wero inferior to those used by traffic officers of neighbouring local bodies. Tho department needed two modern cars with a high rate of acceleration and fitted with sirens.

Mr. Hogan also referred to the increasing congestion of streets by parked cars, although officers reported that only 7 per cent of such cars were left beyond the time limit. Ho again expressed the opinion that the tramway routing system should bo altered so as to remove tram traffic from Quoen Street betweon Wellesloy and Customs Streets. As an alternative, he suggested that the tramway service should be limited and all traffic should be prohibited from turning to the right in Queen Street below Wellesley Street. Parking on tho northern side of Karangahapo Road should be prohibited between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Fridays.