CARS AT HOSPITAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22403, 27 April 1936, Page 13

CARS AT HOSPITAL

NO PARKING SYSTEM SERIOUS CONGESTION CAUSED NEED FOR ORGANISATION FELT Congestion is occurring on visiting days in the motor-parking place provided at the Auckland Hospital, motorists complaining that the cause of much inconvenience and delay is not so much one of inadequate space as the absence of any form of official control or organisation. Moreover, it is stated that because of the lack of system, the ambulances taking patients to the hospital are often delayed. Entrance to the parking area is made from Park Road. On Saturday the congestion was very acute, but the reason for that is said to be due to motorists parking their cars in the hospital while lliev attended the Anzac Day ceremony in the Domain. Yesterday the lack of system in parking tvas ver\ noticeable, parked cars pointing in various directions and often blocking others, while spaces existed that could have been utilised in any general scheme. "I'm sitting here waiting to get my car away," said one motorist, "but I can't move until the owners of the cars in front and behind me come out and shift their cars." The car in front was parked across the car of the complaining owner. One man instanced the success of the parking system instituted by a trading concern in the city, which provides a parking area with a marked place for each car, and several motorists suggested that an official was necessary to organise the parking. One of the difficulties in regulating the parking in the area is a central flower plot containing a large palm tree, the opinion being expressed that although this plot is ornamental, it should be sacrificed for utility. It is indicated opposite the main entrance to the hospital that a space is reserved for the ambulances, but it was noticeable that several motorists were careless in keeping this area clear. Indeed, it is understood that motorists have frequently to be told to mova their cars. One opinion expressed was that the public should be excluded from the parking area because of the difficulty their presence often makes for the ambulances, and also because of the noise made by the engines and the slamming of doors. On SundEiv and Wednesday afternoons, when visitors are permitted to the hospital, long lines of cars, which cannot be accommodated in the parking area, fill adjacent streets. So the presence of the parking area is of material assistance, and a great convenience to visitors who are unable to walk far.