A ONE-STREET TOWN.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXVI, Issue 13500, 9 October 1911, Page 4

A ONE-STREET TOWN.

One of Wanganui’s greatest drawbacks as a commercial centre !s that, from a retail point of view, it is a one-street town. Fortunate, indeed, is the business man who has a fairly long tenancy of premises in the Avenue: he has a decided advantage over others in localities where there is not such a large moving population. Time was when business was concentrated almost entirely in the two blocks between the Avenue and the Montoa Gardens and Ridgway Street and the river. Since the erection of the bridge the centre of gravity has shifted north-west, and streets that were once occupied by business premises and were tho scenes of active commercial operations in years gone by have become almost deserted. 'Fhis is to be regretted, for there is no great advantage in one portion of a town progressing at tho expense- of another part. This has, however, happened in Wanganui, and if tho municipal authorities can do anything to restore in a measure the centre of gravity, without injury to tho community generally, the town would benefit in the long run. And wo think it would be a ■Very great advantage if Ridgway Street, from one end to the other, could be made more attractive, and again draw the

crowds that used to congregate in that thoroughfare when it was a business' centre: To that end, two proposals have recently been submitted to the Borough Council, ami we hope the promoters will persist aiu! im-ist until their suggestions have materialised. One proposal is to open np the south-west cud of Ridgway Street, thus giving access in that direction by a much shorter route to the Recreation Ground, the Cemetery, the Hospital, and Gonvillc. No one can gainsay tho fact that it would be a decided advantage to have this thoroughfare opened, purely from tho point of view of the convenience of the very large number of town,suburban, and country residents who daily use the round-about route of cither Taupo Quay or Guyton Street, Apart from this, however, the opening up of Ridgway Street will render available a number of desirable borough sections for settlement, the rates and rents from which would more than pay the interest on the cost of constructing the road. The same remarks apply to the eastern end. Here it is suggested that the frontage to Queen’s Park should he let for business premises. A former borough engineer esti mated that the excavation could be carried out along the frontage of 3Goft to a depth of 66ft for about ,£IOOO, while it is calculated that the sections could be let for from £1 to J-2 per foot. It will thus bo seen that tho Council’s liability is very small indeed: the interest would be not more than .£SO or .£6O a year, with a probability of hundreds of pounds being received in rents and rates. The time is not far distant when the. residents on the Bell Street and River Bank side of the town will demand an extension of the tram service down Bell .Street and along Ridgway Street, and if this extension were carried out at the same time as the Ridgway Street frontages were opened up wo feel certain the undertakings would prove moat pro/itablc from a borough point of view. Certainly the trams would increase tho value of the sections, and generally improve the eastern and now neglected portion of the town. Objection has been taken to letting the frontages in Queen’s Park because the reserve area on tho top of the hill would be decreased. Wanganui is well off in tho matter of reserves, and the fact of losing a quarter of an acre on top would not seriously inconvenience the people of Wanganui, cither at the present time or in the days to come. Tho population of the town is shifting away from Queen’s Park, and there arc large areas of borough reserves elsewhere from which portions could very well be set aside for recreative purposes. From whatever point of view the question is looked at, it scorns to ns desirable that the proposals for the improvement of Ridgway Street should be carried out. TJie matter is to come before the Council to-morrow evening, when we hope to sec tho progressive policy heartily supported.