LEVEL RAILWAY CROSSINGS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16570, 1 November 1921, Page 2

LEVEL RAILWAY CROSSINGS.

CITY COUNCIL PROTESTS.

A protest against the continuance of level railway crossings in the city was voiced by the City Council in reply to a- letter received from the Minister of Railways, refusing t:> provide a pedestrian subway under the railway to connect Opawa and Woolston. The letter stated that the cost would be about £I2OO, in addition to the pumping that would be necessary to keep it dry. The cost of the work would have to be provided by the local bodiesi' interested, as it could not be undertaken by the Railway Department.

Councillor D. G. Sullivan, in moving that the letter should be referred back to the Works Committee, said that it should be pointed out that the crossing was dangerous for tho many children who used it daily. Councillor A. M’Kellar said that Councillor Sullivan should bring the matter up in Parliament. The Government had wrongly adopted level crossings, which were all right in the country, but not in the city, and if the railways were run by a private concern the line would have to go overheadThe Government went further, and endeavoured tef put the responsibility for crossing on to the public and local bodies, which was wrong. (Hear, hear.) The move for reform should come from the members who represented the peo-r-,e - Councillor W. H. TV’insor said that the Works Committee had no money to build subways, and if it did ore ill would have to do fifty others that were just as urgent. Councillor Sullivan then moved that tho Minister of Railways should be written to and informed that the crossing was used by a. considerable number of children and adults, and that the council considered that the financial responsibility rested upon the Railway Department and not on the local bodies. Councillor C. VT. Hervey. in seconding the motion, eaid that the crossing was very dangerous, and the Government should be compelled to do the work. Councillor M’Kellar said that a better example might be found than Opawa, because children, by a slight detour, could pAss under the railway at tho Heathuste Bridge. Eusor’s Road would be a better example. Councillor Sullivan said that members of Parliament would probably handle the question generally. The motion was carried.