TRAFFIC ROUTE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23121, 20 August 1938, Page 18

TRAFFIC ROUTE

new city outlet NELSON STREET EXTENSION THE REMOVAL OF DWELLINGS Although progress is being made with the depositing of spoil in the gully •between Jieresford anil Howe Streets, along the line of the proposed extension of Nelson Street, no very great advance eun bo made with the undertaking until a number of houses in Somerset Place and Howe Street are removed. One building has already been demolished and tjie City Council is now calling tenders for the removal of another in Howe Street.

This will shortly be followed with a contract for the demolition of eight houses and the area rendered vacant will givu better access for the dumping ol spoil from the Howe Street end. Large quantities of earth tilling arc being obtained from the embankments of the old Ponsonby reservoir in Hereford and Hopeloun Streets, w|iich aro being removed to make room for the new waterworks depot. Altogether J(i dwellings are being removed and most of these have been acquired by private treaty between the City Council and the owners. There are, however, four dwellings with sites in Somerset Place and the vacant area in the gully, belonging to 0110 estate, which the council will be compelled to acquire under the Public Works Act. Negotiations for the taking over of this property have been in hand for some time and should he brought to a conclusion in the near future.

This sehemn is designed to provide a new outlet from the waterfront, via Nelson Street, and an extension of Nelson Street across the gully and through the properties now fronting Somerset Place to Howe Street, to a point about :i()l't. liclow the northern alignment of Hopetoun Street. It is proposed to take a small triangular piece of the grounds of the Auckland Girls' Grammar School and to close a portion of the street on the southern side. This will permit of the new road being joined up with Hopetoun Street in an easy curve. A massive concrete retaining wall has been built immediately to the south of Beresford Street to support the filling at this point. The new outlet is estimated to cost £35,000, the money being provided out of the City Council's works loan of £377,1)00. This sum includes the estimated cost of acquiring the necessary property. By carrying out this work the City Council will provide an alternative route from the lower city to Ponsonby Road, enabling traffic to avoid the congested point at the Pitt StrectKarangahapc Road corner, and to follow a route clear of the tram lines