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Hokitika Guardian, 18 September 1924, Page 2

Evilly sympathy will lie felt M-ith llie ('aiitci'linry people in their desire to have the Lyttelton mi.way service improved. Apart from the [iromiscs made, then* is tli* outstanding need for the attention uliich must strike every traveller passing through the T.yttelton tunnel. The matter has a wider effect than on ( antei bury because Lyttelton ithe chief port of the South L and, and all [ arts of the Dominion are thus more' or less in contact with the railwav

service leading from the gateway ol the South Islam!. .Mr Ililey and others who acre clanged with the care ef the i.alioual railways, have recognised the need for radical changes in the Clirist-clmivh-I.yttelton .service. The duplication of the tunnel tins been suggested s;: iously because of the volume of trade, which in itself is a strong argument for electrification in the l meantime' 1 i ] c'. init i f llie tunnel being used mere ft equeiitly than it is possible to do nuclei- steam power. Naturally the railway ) lays a great part in the' progress of the Province, and for that reason the very alert Canterbury Progress League has again justified itself by organising a gathering of citizens in every way worthy of the imjsirtant matter taken in baud. The Government. apart fiom the personal knowledge of the position, might well be moved bv Monday's meeting to set about executing the [.'remises made in this matter. 'I heir fulfilment will he necessarily protracted, as electrification

cannot lie brought about by the waive of a magic wand. A considerable amount of plant of a special kind will be required. and there will he a 4 rolotiged interval in securing it. Engine [lower is not over Hush in the railways. • 1 that the locomotives relieved from the I.yttclton run would not he scrapped. They are required urgently in other parts of the' South Island, and their transfer would represent a gain rather than a loss. It would he a case of ordering electric power engines in [dace of .steam engines, and this would not he a special burden on the railways cost. 1.-jco motives arc being procured from time to time so that there would not he a special financial strain in regard to the electric engines. However, much other plant Mould he required, and as Departments own hasten as slowly as possible—witness the overhead bridge across Stafford Street—the Minister of Finance would not he rushed off Ills feet to provide money for the plant. But apart from all these

considerations the genuineness of the ease suggests that the request of Canterbury should be nicodod to with all haste.

Thk bridging of the small streams on

the main south road (which is now part of the national highway) is a matter lor attention by the authorities. Traffic 1 romises to increase so much from now on, that it will 1.0 a great boon to motor traffic to have the eio~-ings made safe and easy for traffic. At the Highways Council meeting at fSrc.vnioiith last week the Automobile Association drew attention to the necessity of attending to the crossing at (tranite Creek near I'Yi'mison's, but the request was turned down w ith the re] ly that, there was more urgent work to be done. That is ju-t the point—there is more urgent work, hut it is not done either. (liniii.tr Creek is an innocent looking crossing in normal conditions, but with a heavy laiulnll as occurs at times, it rises raq idly, and »"•' traffic has been held up. Tim matter of 1. idgmg is not a costly job. Ihe site is adjacent to a sawmill and am; la material is ready at hand. ’I he creasing tan be. and entcu is rofigli, cheeking the ’progress of cars, and if it were spanned by a suitable structure* the convenience to trafii would lie up] reciated. There tin' ether small <fossmgs on the same .section of road just beyond the Milium i. where culvert c rowings have Veen ] r ::n:sed for yea's, and mateiial taken to the sites lias ‘net'll allowed to decay IV r the .want of use. If tlic.se few c nr-sings through ]i'orngrnvo, a most beaut it ill section of the South Westland drive, were attended to. travellers would enjoy the al11actions much mine. As it is their attention is diverted between the scenery. mid when tli” next hump will come, and sentences of appreciation of nature's beauty a"e often lost in a jangle of words which are caused by the unwary jolting over an unseen but severely felt open c rossing. Surely the few pounds required to remedy limiters cm Ibis, icinaikaUe section of the road can Ice lrovichd out cl (lie many thousands of founds w lii- li appear to he available for the highways. !■ urt!: r south tlio'e arc some additional s'lc:rni creeks which require bridging also. These works have been spoken of from time to time, and even piovidcd for on the IMimates. Hut though the , intentions of the authorities room to he in keeping with the necessities their performances are negligible in these matters. As the road is a main highway of the lir-t importance for all (•'asses cf traffic, and at the same time being the iiulis; eii'-.l be art.rial road governing the dc."lnj nicnt of the south, it would be well to see 11: ■ mitlenities in | ositive a lion attending to the 1 ridging of all tin* small eros-ings often so troublesome to through traf-