TRAFFIC CONTROL.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 December 1920, Page 4

TRAFFIC CONTROL.

The inconvenience caused by the congestion of pedestrian traffic at certain times in Devon Street is not so much due to -people walking on the wrong side of the pathway, or the insufficiency of police control, as to the totally inadequate width of the. viatory on the southern side of the street. The distance affected is comparatively small, and it would seem that an even flow of traffic in both directions could easily be maintained by about three patrols constantly moving up and down the area where the pressure is greatest. One of the factors of the trouble is undoubtedly the presence of a number of push-carts and other such vehicles containing infants. It is undesirable to inflict the hardship and injustice on mothers, who have no other opportunity of shopping except at times when the streets are crowded, by placing an embargo on these vehicles, nor does it seem possible to do anything but allow them to follow the same track as the people on foot, so long as they are not allowed to block the traffic by being left standing'outside the shops. Another impediment, and one that causes most trouble, is the practice of people gathering in groups of various size 3 and engaging in conversation Doubtless such people exhibit a thoughtless disregard of the general convenience of the public, and as they can far more comfortably converse in one of the side streets or on the side of the road proper, there should bo a regulation to that effect, which would soon become known and duly observed. The main source of trouble, however, is that the footway on the popular side of the street is far too narrow, besides which the limited space is still further contracted by verandah posts and electric wire poles. For these defects it is the borough authorities, arid not the public, who are to blame, and the sooner these obstructions are removed in the centre of the town, the. nearer New Plymouth will approach, to an up-to-date borough. A crowd is invariably in good humor and easily managed by (hose in authority, provided calmness and tact are displayed. There should not be the slightest difficulty in controlling the traffic ni. times of congestion without resorting to bluster or threats of prosecution under the bylaws. After all, a little temporary inconvenience inflicts no hardship.