The Press WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 1946. Traffic Problems

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24899, 12 June 1946, Page 6

The Press WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 1946. Traffic Problems

Although no one will take seriously the discussion on parking by the City Council on Monday night, or the suggestion that part of the grassed portion of Latimer square should be asphalted and used as a parking area for cars, one sensible remark did arise out of the discussion. This was Councillor M. E. Lyons’s statement that “ the council would have

“to face the problem of parking ” and “ would have to establish muni- ‘ cipal parking areas; and the sooner “this was done the better for all “ concerned ”. Cr. Lyons might have added that the council indeed would have to face the whole question of traffic regulation in the city, not only as it applies to motor-cars, but also as it applies to trams, buses, cycles, and in fact all other users of the road. Parking is only part of the problem—admittedly a big one; and it will grow, as other traffic problems will grow, now that greater supplies of petrol are available, and as the tyre, situatior eases. Provision will have to be made for allday parking facilities (if necessary, at a small cost to the users, which will pay for the outlay of ratepayers’ money) and for even stricter supervision of time-limi i parking within the inner city area. This casts no reflectkn on the City Council’s traffic staff; but no body of men, however conscientious, can be übiquitous, and there is always the selfish type of motorist who will occupy a parking place, and often more than his share of it, beyond the limit. Heavier fines for frequent offenders may help to reduce the incidence of this petty but annoying breach of the by-laws. Present conditions, however, contribute to the motorists’ parking difficulties; and it is for the City Council to find ways of eliminating them. The problem ot control of moving traffic also cries out for solution and is inter-related with parking. The present chaotic conditions of traffic in the Square for example, with a gyratory system observed by some types of traffic and an exception in the case of trams, with pedestrians wandering across it at all angles, and with the middle and other sections of it monopolised by tram and bus stops, would probably not be tolerated in any other city of the size of Christchurch. That very serious accidents are not of more frequent occurrence there is certainly more because of good fo-tune than good management. The most ardent opponents of planning would be hard put tb it to find arguments against a planned scheme for that particular area of the city. But that again is only part of the problem. The City Council’s traffic committee, aided by its new chief inspector (Mr C. S. Nicholson), must face the task of producing a traffic plan for the whole city which will not only meet present urgent needs but provide for longterm future requirements; and a first essential is a clear understanding with the Tramway Board as to what will and will not in future be permitted. So much rests on that understanding that it must be considered the basis of the whole plan. ■