TRAFFIC CHAOS.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 366, 22 February 1937, Page 8

TRAFFIC CHAOS.

MOTORISTS DEMAND ACTION.

Chronic traffic congestion at King’s Cross, Sydney, rapidly grows worse, while the City Council and other bodies continue, as they have done for years, to investigate and argue the merits of various s-memes to relieve It.

Motoring bodies are united in declaring that the time is prtrt !*>-- talk. Tliey demand action. From 5 to 6.i5 p.in., 102 trants, 16 ■ %uses and 1413 motor vChicea, outiward bound from ths city, jostled their :w'ay thronfeii th.s bottleneck as Tr.vns--pbrt Department officials Were taking ,» census recently.

Assuming that each motor veh'cle' was delayed only- two minutes as it 'same into the choking grip of lliis thtlquated thoroughfare, the aggregate of time wasted during 75 minutes on- the outward run was 47 Sours I

During 1935 and 1936 there occurred at King’s Gross 131 traffic accl--1 Sants which resulted in 26 persons seing injured. The results were not as severe as at some other spots where traffic moves speedily, but of the 26 persons-injured, 21 were pedsstrians.

In 105 Instances the accidents resulted in major property damage.

This imposed a still further toil apon the nerves of motorists and upon ' their or the insurance companies’ financial resources. Many Schemas “Considered.” Four police traffic officers do their Jest to control the >ak hour traffic iitream to ensure the greatest possible .safety, 'which means that frequeitily-

; ,t must be allowed to bank up white ! pedestrians cfoss to and froth trams -and footways.

The area is so restricted that more than four policemen cannot be usefully employed. Their wages aggregate, more than £lOOO a year. The R.A.C.A.'and the N.R.M.A. have •übmitted schemes for relief of the lituation, by diversion of trafflo along lide streets. The cost of these schemes for resumptions and constructional work would be moderate in comparison with other schemes, such as bridging, tunnelling, and widening the principal thoroughfares. “This traffic stream is concentrated sn a narrow' area which is probably without parallel in ahy other part of Australia,” says the R.A.C.A.