TRAMWAY NEEDS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 787, 9 April 1910, Page 6

TRAMWAY NEEDS.

SHORTER ROUTE TO KARORI. ~ PROPOSED NEW ROAD. THE NEWTOWN-EILBIRNtE CONNECTION. A shorter tramway route from Wellington to Karori was,'the subject of a question asked by Councillor Fitzgerald in the City Council on Thursday night. The councillor' wished to know if the engineer was reporting on this subject. Yesterday.- the . Mayor,:(Dr.. Newman) made an interesting statement on tho matter to a Dominion representative.. He said that before Christmas the Prime Minister discussed with him. the question of making a new road from Sydney Street to Lambton Quay—a road which would partly overlap Bowen Street and Museum Street. . The Prime Minister proposed'that an almost straight road 66 feet wide should be made in front of the museum from Sydney Street to the corner.of Bowen Street, and Lambton Quay, cutting off part of the Government' House grounds.- The Finance Committee of the council recently interviewed Sir Joseph Ward on the matter, and with regard to other proposed deviations. If this new road were made it would give a very easy access from.Lambton Quay to Sydney Street, and by way of Sydney Street to Tinakori Road,' and it is estimated :tbat the. tramway' connection with Creswick, Northland and Karori:would be shortened by something like 1} miles. The work could be carried out practically without the purchase-of any land by the city. Tho. Mayor is of opinion that this is by far the best way-of solving the difficulty /of a shorter tramway route. Further,-'if this'line is adopted, the. trams which will run, down the new street can run across Lambton' Quay to the. street'between, the. Government Station- and the Post Office,' and down that'street to the-new railway station, which will probably be erected at this place. : . • '•''."

THE KILBIRNIE TUNNEL. MEANS TO .EASE CONGESTION • •' Regarding-the-,doputation:-which waited on tho-.City Council bnVThursday night to'asr'for.the!.'ektens"ion of the tramway!.between Constable Street and Kilbirnie; the Mayor told -a Dominion representative/yesterday that this matter has been- under the .consideration of councillors and of/the .tramway officials since the opening of the Lyall Bay line, llie traffic through the Kilbirnie tunnel has grown remarkably, and though the council's ofiicers have done, their best in every way to cope with it the difficulties are such that this line cannot take much more traffic. Unfortunately when the tunnel was made it was constructed so low that the "double decker" cars with : passengers on top I cannot pass through it with safety This necessitates sending- only low cars through .the. tunnel.- .Whenever there is a rush of traffic .the difficulties!'bf:coping with it .are, enormous,. ■ - The'xars. often W !^''-?*?''''§ te «t'-'^r. V 'l'yall::Bay so crowded that •people,, wbdVare. waiting at all .. the.' stations.''.;.'from, .; Courtenay i'lace .to the 'entrance : of. 'the tunnel are, -unable to find • room. In consequence of this the' Mayor believes that; a considerable number of people who would visit Lyall Bay and the other watering places are deterred from Qomg so. , -;;. "The question which the city must fe, » t this S " ,said Dr." Newman. Jiither it must have a new tunnel to cope with /the rapidly-growing traffic •or it must make the Constable-Kilbiruio connectmn. - The advantage of the latter connection is' this,' that it-will take olt a large amount of traflic which now goes -through the-tunnel,- ; and at the same timejt will provide;for the needs ot the large population at Newtown and •Ju "^H - ? nd bri "S them into touch with Kilbirnie and Lyall Bay by. the shortest possible' route.. There are more houses going up on the Miramar side of the tunnel than-prbbably in' the whole of the remaining suburbs of Wellington put together." ; The- Mayor is confident that thero is going to be a very large growth of mmulation all overHataitai, KilbiThie, Maranud, and the isthmus between Evans and- Lyall Bays, and thence along, the flat to Miramar. There are now continual complaints that at five o'clock the cars going through the tunnel are so crowded as to be most inconvenient for passengers. At the same ' time the Tramway Department has 'to face a very rapid growth of this, traffic' in the next and succeeding summers. The council is doing what it can to ease the position. It can, do a little 1 by duplicating the 'line for a few hundred yards on the Kilbirnie side of the tunnel, so ;as. to .allow ; a number of cars to accumulate and be sent through the tunnel more speedily than' is now the case. This duplication has already been ordered. Another work which will soon be put in hand is this':• A number of cars are needed to. bring back the people in the afternoon from Lyall Bay, and there is not enough, accommodation side tracks, for ; the. cars.. This is going to be remedied by the council by extending the Lyall. Bay terminus some distance down <the' beach in the direction of Maranui. By /both these means it v is believed,that next summer the. traffic difficulty with these water-ing-places will-be somewhat, eased.

"There- can, however, be no question," states the Mayor, "that the council must face the 'question very soon of the Constable Street-Elbirnie connection. It is probable that the council, when it considers this question, will propose to borrow the c necessary amountrr-£22,ooo—as a special and district loan. The last time that the council proposed this loan, it was mixed up with other loans, which, perhaps, helped to cause its rejection. At the present time, on fine holidays and Sundays j a large number of people who .visit Lyall Bay find tho cars so overcrowded that they walk from there to Newtown." • .■-■•. ■ .'