IS A DISGRACE TO CHRISTCHURCH.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18958, 2 January 1930, Page 9

IS A DISGRACE TO CHRISTCHURCH.

COLOMBO STREET - S BAD STATE DELAYS TRAFFIC. Thousands of people daily have the misfortune to find it necessary to traverse Colombo Street south of the railway line, and every one of them vows that it is the worst road in the city. It is not only a bad city road, but is so broken and undulating that it would be a disgrace to the smallest country borough. It is one of the many blots on the roading of this city. For years it has been in the same condition, in spite of loud protests from Sydenham residents. Cars travelling that way slacken speed and lurch over the uneven ground, and cyclists cling grimly to their bucking mounts. Even the pedestrian suffers from the rattle of traffic, and the dust and small stones thrown up by the wheels of passing vehicles. An Important Thoroughfare. Between the railway and Brougham Street, Colombo Street is one of the most important thoroughfares in the city, and is by far the most important in that locality. Not only is it a shopping centre for a large area, but it also has to carry daily some thousands of people who live in Sydenham, Cashmere, and Beckenham, and who work in the city. It is an arterial road of the greatest importance, but by its appearance it gives the impression of an abandoned street, rapidly falling into decay. A Hill-climbing Test. The crown of the road, between the tram tracks, is covered with rubble and broken bits of stone and asphalt, throw-n up by vehicles which endeavour to keep their wheels on the lines. The tram lines themselves give a standard by which the general state of the road may be judged. In parts, almost buried in banks of rough asphalt and in other places sticking up two or three inches into the air, these lines form the only part of the surface which approaches evenness. Years of traffic along this beaten path have worked holes in the cracked surface, and assisted by rain water, have thrown rubble and shattered pieces of surfacing far and wide. By the sides of the tram tracks, the road curves in a steep camber to the open gutter, this heavy slope inducing traffic to stick as close as possible to the middle of the road. To turn a car in this part of Colombo Street is a feat requiring a great deal of hillclimbing experience. Without the greatest discomfort, a car cannot travel in the middle of the road, and an equal discomfort awaits the motorist who selects the side. In any case there are nearly always a number of bicycles using both sides of the road. Broken Gutters. Like the rest of the surface, the edges of the gutters are chipped and broken, with long cracks extending into the road. Patching with coarse, tarred shingle has had little effect in the few spots where it has been allowed to remain. This morning these gutters were blocked and overflowing. They are wide gutters, even where they have remained unbroken at their proper width, and take up much important room which could be used for traffic if it was covered over. The wide gutters and heavy camber combine to give the road an altogether false narrowness. The difference is most marked when the fine new road-

ing north of Moorhouse Avenue is used as a comparison. There, the camber is almost flat, the gutters are covered, and the impression of width is substantiated by the comfort of travelling on it. Primitive Methods. On the surface actually between the tram rails, primitive patching has had the effect of making a thoroughly rough surface even rougher, the finished product being about as comfortable to drive over as the average river bed. Evidence of form of road repair is visible all along the road, where the heavy traffic, bumping unevenly along, never gives the tarred rubble a chance to set. Reconstruction must come soon, but it will be an expensive job, because Colombo Street now is too far gone for even extensive repairs. Christchurch is a city of bad roads, but among a number of poor thoroughfares, Colombo Street stands out as a lasting disi grace.