THE DUKE’S VISIT

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18581, 15 December 1934, Page 4

THE DUKE’S VISIT

ASSEMBLY AT RESERVE 1 POINTS FOR CAR OWNER MINIMUM OF DISLOCATION Dislocation of the ordinary traffic conditions in Gisborne will be reduce! to a. minimum in connection with thi visit of the Duke *of Gloucester oj Thursday next, affd the convenience of the public will be given every consideration possible, it was stated to-day by the Mayor, Mr John Jackson, when a number of inquiries re-| garding moving traffic and parking! were referred to him.

Mr Jackson outlined the arrangements which have been evolved as the result of a conference between the municipal and county traffic inspectors with the Inspector of Police, relative to tho problems arising in connection with the royal visit, and gave < an assurance that where streets are cleared for the progress of the Duke’s entourage, the periods of traffic prohibition ivill be as brief as possible. Pedestrian traffic on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning will be controlled by the police, and there will be no major departure from the ordinary arrangements for the safety of the public, such as are applied on special holidays. Pedestrians will rkqeive some benefits, indeed, from the jffiSic, control measures decided upon, asJthev will be able to secure uninterrupted views of the progress of" the royal party on various occasions. CONTROL OF WHEELED TRAFFIC Wheeled traffic will be under more rigid control for specified intervals. Details of the control measures which are to be enforced on country roads for the safety of the royal tourist and th.is party have already -been published, and those evolved for the town of Gisborne will dovetail with them.

There will be no interruption of traffic in Gladstone road until 2 p.m. on Thursday, when the police and traffic inspectors will make a start to clear the main business street of parked cars. Shortly before the arrival of the Duke in Gisborne, all wheeled traffic will be cleared from. Gladstone road, Customhouse street, and the lower end of Childers road. Lowe street also will be closed to vehicular traffic, between Gladstone road and Childers road, and this closure will be effective from 3 p.m. on Thursday until 10 a.m. on Friday. The degiee of inconvenience caused to traffic will depend in a large measure upon the extent to which co-operation with the control arrangements can be secured from the general public.

PROCESSION TO RESERVE Regarding the route to be followed by the Duke from his hotel to the Childers road reserve, the Mayor mentioned that Gladstone road to Carnarvon street, Carnarvon street between Gladstone road and Childers road, and Childers road between Carnarvon street and the gates of the reserve, at Disraeli street, will be cleared for tkAjnoi cession. Roebuck road, between JLadstone road and Childe'rs road, uR be' reserved 1 for the parking of cans bringing official invitees to the neighborhood of the reserve, but all other streets will be available for parking. The police and traffic inspectors, with a number of emergency assistants, will keep a, lane clear through traffic on the lower portion of Childers road, in order that the return of the royal party to the Masonic Hotel, after the ceremony at the reserve, may not be impeded. The return will be by way of Childers road to Lowe street.

. TRAFFIC IN THE EVENING j In the- evening, traffic arrangements J will be similar to those regularly adopted for the protection of pedestrians in the shopping area, portions of the (business block being closed to wheeled' traffic, while Lowe street will be defi- f nitely isolated, according to the police | instructions for the convenience 'and \ protection of the royal visitor. A portion of Read's quay will be included in tho area from which wheeled traffic will be barred, after 6 p.m., as this will be a main thoroughfare for the public concentration, which the evening celebrations are expected to attract. The Gladstone road bridge will be | open during tho evening, and traffic" between the town area and Kaiti will merely deviate down Read’s quay to | Childers road, to avoid the congested areas.

A request was made by the Mayor in regard to the assistant traffic inspectors, who are to be appointed for the occasion. These men will wear a brassard on tho arm, and will be stationed at various points to assist in keeping the traffic in lino with the regulations laid down for tho Duke’s visit. The men would be carefully selected, the Mayor** added, and he honed the public gene; ally would respect the temporal authority vested in them.

NO VISITS TO POHO-O-RAWIRI OR COOK HOSPITAL

In view of the conflict of interests which seems to have developed locally in regard to the proposal to hold a ball at Poho-o-Rawiri meeting-house next Thursday evening, the reception committee which is organising celebrations has decided not to recommend His Royal Highness to include a visit to the meet-ing-house in his programme. The possibility of the Duke paying a visit to the Cook Hospital, following upon the official reception at the reserve, has been disnelled by a communication from the Department of Internal Affairs, received this morning by the Mayor. The telegram pointed out that His Royal Highness will have a, strenuous day on December 20, and that he is to be spared additional strain, as far as possible. In any went, the programme of the royal party in Gisborne has already been compiled and planted officially, and further difficulty would be involved by a change of plans at this stage.