FEWER LEVEL CROSSINGS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22198, 27 August 1935, Page 8

FEWER LEVEL CROSSINGS

The Government's decision to spend £360,000 in the® next three years in eliminating some of the more important and dangerous railway level crossings will be universally approved. The policy has several recommendations, and the first is a material reduction in the constant menace to human life, which increases with the growth of road traffic. Expensive delays at some busy crossings will also be saved. On the other hand, some of the nervous strain placed on locomotive drivers in populous districts will be removed. Of course the work will be costly, but in many instances the expenditure 'should be more than justified. It has been estimated that the cost of eliminating the 500 level crossings in New Zealand would average £6OOO each. A long time must elapse and much money be spent before the whole menace can be ended. The authorities should therefore consider whether many crossings could not be temporarily or permanently protected by less expensive means than overbridges, subways, or deviations. Meanwhile the announced programme can be welcomed as a good beginning. The interest of those joined in finding the cost—the Railways, Main Highways and Unemployment Boards along with local bodies—is clear enough. Another recommendation is the fact that full-time work will be found for a number of unemployed men at places accessible to their homes. Altogether the Government can be congratulated on the first of its major works to absorb unemployed and on its method of financing the scheme.