EASY PROGRESS

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 92, 15 October 1932, Page 14

EASY PROGRESS

THE RECLAMATION

RAILWAY AND ROAD

EFFECT ON BUSINESS

Had all things run on smoothly the Thorndon reclamation development would by now have been almost a completed work, but with finances difficult in all directions progress has been held back. Though the whole area is above water level a good deal of final filling and levelling must be done before tho western part of tho reclaimed area can be used. No pumping has been done for a considerable time now, but steady filling with spoil carted from various excavation and demolition jobs,, month after month,' is . gradually lifting the level. After a walk over the reclamation one wonders where Wellington could have disposed of so many thousands of loads of spoil, broken bricks, and concrete, and the rest of tho heavy assortment (not forgetting oyster shells by the lorry load), before there was, conveniently near, a reclamation where this sort of in disposable stuff is welcome.

But for difficult times the Tawa Flat deviation would probably to-day have been in use, the new railway goods yard would have been mostly-laid out, and Wellington people need not have apologised;to. visitors for the Thornd'on and Lambton stations. These things "•ill come along in good,time, and the better the times the sooner.

AV.ork now in hand on the reclaimed area includes the gradual extension of railway yard tracks, extending to the seawall breastwork, and the rough formation of the, new roadway which will .run parallel with the breastwork. NEW WATERFRONT ROADWAY.

The settlement between the Eailway Department, City Council, and Harbour Board regarding compensation for the taking of Thorndon esplanade, a public reserve the dinginess of which is now only faintly remembered, has been completed. Though, the amount ot compensation agreed upon was 5.^0,000, the net amount paid over was a matter of only £4000 or £5000, tor set off against the gross amount was the value of the land transferred ±rom the Eailway Department to the city some years ago when Wakefield street was widened between Taranaki street and Clyde quay. The- waterfront roadway still has a long way to go before it will reach **v m? y tracks > frst to the north ot the Thorndon railway overbridge! Its completion will possibly bring ?« °. ll ar^ lg chanSe traffic conditions in the Thorndon .area, for it will provide a wide alternative outlet from the waterfront and the- city, so relieving Thorndon quay of a great part of it! heavy traffic, and probably also of much light traffic. Whether the new road will be attractive to car traffic will depend mainly upon the amount of cross traffic, from breastwork to railway yards warehouses and stores, and also of' course, upon the way in which drivers will regard the level crossing to the ilutt road. At one stage in the negotiations over the Thorndon esplanade settlement a ramp and overbridge at this point figured promisingly for the city, but in the final settlement no provision was made in this regard. Any alternative to a tramway route is likely to be attractive to motorists, and without much doubt Thorndon quay will be relieved of a great part of its present traffic. POET TRADE TRENDS NORTHWARDS.

The development of .the reclamation is bound to have an important bearing, too, upon the establishment of a new heavy warehouse area for Wellington if the general plans talked of some years ago are followed, for it was proposed that, a strip about 100 feet wide inside the new roadway should be leased for warehouse and- store purposes. Warehouse and storage accommodation so immediately served by water and rail is at present lackin« in Wellington. • .. °

■ Thonidon area developments must have a substantial effect also'upon the business of the Harbour Board, for more and more cargo handling will tend to move northwards. Old port plans show in dotted lines two prospective wharves from the Te Aro reclamation seawall, between the Clyde'quay and Tn.ranaki street wharves. It may be that some day a return will bd made to these plans, but very definitely the trend of port business for a good many years now has been steadily northwards, and a main reason, of course, is that it is only upon .■ the northern wharves ' that railway facilities are available.