ACTION MUST BE TAKEN

Chronicle (Levin), 16 April 1947, Page 4

ACTION MUST BE TAKEN

Retnoval of Accident Danger On Ohau Bridge Over the last twelve mohths atteiition bas repeatedly been drawn by this newspaper to the serious danger which exists at the Ohau traffic bridge, where the narrowness of the structure, combined with the fact that the surf aee of the, decking has. worri so sinooth that braking is ineffeetive iii wet or f rosty weather, has created a situation that is a menace tb mbtorists. _ . Though accident sifter accident has occurred there, all that has been done is to" shbwer the bridge surfabe with sand. This work was carried out yesterday and any benefit it will give will last only a matter of days. The situation demands a more lasting. remedy than "this, and so far there has been no. official announcenient that any such ■ improvement'" is even con.templated, let alone to .be effected. In fact it would appear -in this case that a tragedy will have to occurr to impress the danger on oilicialdom, and that will happen if something is not done and do'he soon. . With the winter approaching, and the advent of frosts and more frequent wet weather, the risk of accident on this bridge will be very much greater. In the ten-year plan of developmental work for the Horowhenua district, outlined recently by the' Minister of Works, Mr. Semple, provision was made for the renewal of the bridge. This work should proceed without delay, though of necessityit would take some time to complete with the existing material shortages. in the mean, time the motoring public will look for some improvement which will immediately reduce the danger and remove the possibility of a tragedy occurring. There are two courses which would bring relief. Firstly, if wire-netting was laid over the surface it would give braking some degree of effectiveness in wet or frosty weather -where it has none at present. Coupled with this would be the - dsclaration, of the structure as a one-way briclge, and the replacement of the multiplieity of warning signs posted at each end and painted on the road with a single, prominet sign — "One Way Bridge." The second and more effective measure would be -the pnrovi'Sion of a Bailey bridge similar to that erected over the Pouawa River, Gisborne, following the destruction of the existing one by the tidal wave recently. The accident history of this bridge in the past twelve months since the lifting of petrol restrictions and a return to the pre-war -volume of traffic on the roads is too recent and well-known to -need repetition. In that period there have been no less than ten severe aceidents involving injury, and a number of others in which vehicles only have been damaged. One insurance company approached by "The Chronicle" in the course of its enquiries said that in the last year aceidents on. this bridge alone had cost it £1000. Another. point is the accumulation of traffic which . takes place when these aceidents happen. When cars collide on this bridge . and are severely damaged, as quite frequently happens, the busy main highway is completeiy blocked and scores of cars are held up at each approach to it until the police or traffic inspector, who are on the scene as promptly as possible, arrive and authorise the removal of the vehicles. One comment recently o was to the effect that these aceidents were to a lareg extent due to the carelessness of motorists. The very high rate of accident in itseif, and the fact that they invariably take place when the surface is wet, clearly show that the cause is something more than a lack of care on the part of drivers. This is further exemplified in the fact that byfar the greater proportion of the drivers i'nvolved were strkngers to this .district, and ' unaware of the wet weather danger which local knowledge minimises but does not entirely remove because of the "other fellow.'' It is also singular that to those who have to deal with these aceidents the same cause is always given — "I applied my brakes, but they did- not work on the slippery surface.'" The cause of these collisions is beyond the control of the drivers and in the interests of roa-d safety conditions which place a motorist in such a position should not be allowed to exist on a busy main highway. The Horowhenua County «Council has indicated that it will place the matter before the Main Highways Board when it visits Levin cn April 23, and the Levin Junior Chamber of Commerce has made representations for improvements as soon as possible. Traffic Inspector M. Kehoe, when asked if the Transpbrt Department was aware of the danger, said he had submitted a report on the bridge to the chief Traffic Inspector. These representations will have the full support of the motoring public, which will want the long overdue improvements effected to this notorious bridge without further delay.