THE NEW TUNNEL

New Zealand Times, Volume L, Issue 11656, 22 October 1923, Page 4

THE NEW TUNNEL

While the location of the new Hataitai tunnel has been definitely decided upon by the City Council, a very important point still remains to be considered —namely, whether or not the tunnel shall be made of sufficient width to accommodate the ordinary vehicular traffic without having to run on the tramlines. There are to be duplicate tramlines through the tunnel, with a pathway on each side for pedestrians; but, owing to the increased cost involved and the existing financial stringency, the works committee of the council did not see its way to recommend the more ambitious project of a tunnel providing on each side of the tramway an ample roadway for motorlorries and other vehicles. The committee did not even call for an estimate as to what addition to the total cost of the tunnel the provision of such roadways would cause. This, we hold, is greatly to be regretted. The new tunnel is primarily intended as a traffic tunnel; the population of the city is likely to double, if not more than double, within the next ten to fifteen years; and it is very clear that, with the doubling of the population—to say nothing of the position which must arise twenty-five to fifty years hence—a tunnel of the width at present recommended by the committee must prove quite inadequate for the great and growing traffic. It would be a thousand pities to repeat to-day the mistake that was made with regard to the Hataitai tunnel. In fact-, with that blunder and its consequences so clearly before the eyes of the Mayor, councillors, and burgesses of the city, it is not too much to say that it would be well-nigh unpardonable—“a. blunder worse than a crime” —to build a second tunnel, which, long before the quarter-century is turned, cannot but be unequal to the city’s needs. It is generally understood that the Hataitai tunnel, which is only 27ft in width, could have been made of ample width by the expenditure at that time of a. few thousand pounds. Seeing, therefore, that the new tunnel, including all the necessary approaches, is estimated to cost £150,000 only, it is manifest that the additional cost of making it such a tunnel as would fully meet all requirements for at least half a century to come, can hardly he so great that the City Council need hesitate to incur it. Even if to increase the width of the tunnel as suggested would delay its construction somewhat, it would, surely, be far better to make a good job of it while we are about it, instead of the city being confronted ten, or at the outside fifteen years hence, by a position similar to that which the council now has to face. The citizens, at all events, have an undoubted right to know what the additional cost would be likely to he; and the City Council ought certainly to have a careful estimate made of the probable extra cost, and consider very seriously whether it is not possible to find a way of meeting that cost, whatever it may he. The tramway department, which is getting a. double tramline through the tunnel, should be able to help jn the matter.