Centre-pole Problem

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 104, 23 July 1927, Page 8

Centre-pole Problem

Is the System Dangerous ? EVERY time a motor-car in Auckland touches a tramway centre-pole, whether the collison wrecks the entire machine, or merely dents the enamel, the owner of the car registers impious condemnation of the centre-pole system. Agitation for the removal of the poles, which are held to be dangerous under modern traffic conditions, has been renewed by a report presented recently by the Chamber of Commerce.

TTAVING investigated the whole tramway system, the sub-commit-tee reached the conclusion that the centre-poles could be done without. That conclusion is not disputed by the city tramway authorities, but whether the results would justify the expense is a proposition that wears a different complexion.

Accidents in which the obnoxious centre-pole is implicated cannot be termed uncommon. In the past three months there have been four such collisions in Lower Queen Street. Less than three weeks ago a fiveseater car was crushed between a tram and a pole, and the lady driver was lucky to escape injury. CONDUCTOR’S DEATH

More recently a car was wrecked vhen it hit a centre-pole near the foot >i Anzac Avenue, while the death of

a tram conductor some months ago was attributed to the possibility that hi head had hit a centre-pole as he was leaning out of a moving car. Of course, not all the tramway overhead lines are supported by centre-poles. Those streets in which centre poles march down the middle are only a small part of the system. Nevertheless, there are altogether 320 poles for the motorist to hit, and they extend through eight and a-half miles of streets.

Unfortunately, the streets traversed by the iron poles (standards is their technical name) are nearly all in the heart of the city, so that they occur where traffic is densest. Queen Street, Customs Street, Parnell Rise, Hobson Street, Karangahape Road, Surrey Crescent, Symonds Street —all these possess centre-poles, and they are the avenues for a vast volume of the city’s traffic. Also, they are among the oldest routes in the tramway system. The centre-pole practice has not been followed* lately, but when they were planted between the lines of tram rails the centrepoles represesented an entirely modern system, and were considered useful street features. MANAGER’S OPINION Mr. A. E. Ford, tramways manager, said this morning that the removal of the poles would involve more than a rearrangement of the overhead system. At present the centre-poles carried a heavy burden of feeder lines. The overhead trolly wires could not themselves carry all the power required in the congested sections,, so feeder lines were required, and these were carried by the centre-poles. If the poles were removed the feeder cables would have to be put underground an expensive and troublesome business. It had been suggested that the poles should be cut off, at road level, with an oxygen flame, but that would not be wise, as the poles would then be made useless, and could neither be sold nor erected elsewhere. Personally, Mr. Ford said he believed the poles served a valuable purpose in dividing the traffic going in different sections, and he pointed out that in some streets in the Old World—Oxford Street, London, is an example—centre-poles are retained for

this reason only. FLEEING FOR SAFETY Many motorists will agree with Mr. Ford in his claim that centre-poles divide the traffic, and one garage proprietor said emphatically that they should not be removed.

Pedestrians who flee to the security of a centre-pole, when threatening traffic crow'ds about them, may share such sentiments. Still, the chief factor in the situation, at present, is the fact that the removal of the poles is beyond the City Council’s means. The total outlay involved would certainly exceed £40,000.