STREET WIDENING,

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2364, 21 January 1915, Page 7

STREET WIDENING,

MANNERS ST..STRIP TAKEN

ACHONiPENDING IN.WILLIS:-ST.

The Mayor of Wellington made ?n interesting statement yesterday to a Dominion representative regarding the City Council's proposal for widening iWillis Street and Manners Street. . The widening of Willis Street, of course, has been in hand for some considerable time, and as regards Manners Street there has never actually been a resolutionby the City Counoil to tho effect that Manners Street as a whole thoroughfare should.be widened. But the Mayor states- that a long narrow strip of land on the northern side of the street has been takv,a by proclamation under the Pubho Works Act for streetwidening purposes. The strip is from the corner on .which the Clarendon Hotel stands to tho oorner formerly occupied ,by Mr. H. .Fielder, < furnisher, jietween these two points the building alignment takes the form of a- knuckle which juts out into the thoroughfare. It- a proposed to tako the street in a strMi;nt'line from one point to the richer'; and any rew buildings going up thereabouts will have to be sot back:to the ne'f r alignment. The "Xa-yor said that the idea at pre- ; sent hell for lessening the traffic in Manners ftreet was to widen and woodblock Merer Street. He said that there was rio reasm why traffic should, not go via Mercer Street, except that that thoroughfare *as not wood-blocked, and drivers invariatly keep to the blocking. ■ Respecting tie work vof widening iWillis Street, the Mayor said that plan 6 are well forward to enable, tenders to be called for the outting'back of four buildings, which H>w abut beyond the hew line into the street. -These buildings, are • near tte Mercer Street corner, and they era now occupied by Mr. T. Beadnall, "ihe New Zealand Bible Society, Mr. B. T. Osborne, and Mr. Wycherley. The property is leased by the City CorporatioL from the Wellington College Governois. Except for the freehold, the whole p.oporty is vested in the corporation. Recently there have been negotiations regarding the Duke of Edinburgh property, and present indications are that matters concerning the tiking of portions of the land on wjich the hotel stands will have to go to she law courts. There are at least two iatorests affected by the council's jroposals, and claims have been made on the corporation in behalf of both the owners and leaseholder. To widen Mercer Street, the counoil has taken Mr. Chote's property, opposite the Public Libraryi The proclamation respecting the taking of tho land has been made, and private negotiations for a settlement of tlie question of compensation have reached a certain stage, but have not been -completed. The council's idea is to take the whole of .that property, use'what they think no' ■cessary for widening the 6treet, and put the balanoe to whatever use seems .best in the interests of the City. "The proposals," said the Mayor, "have 6ome obstacles in their way. The financial difficulties are considerable, becauso all those things have to be done out of revenue. There is no loan money available for ,them. The council's enterprise in this direction is necessarily controlled to a great extent by the 'amount of money available."