CITY PROBLEMS

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVII, Issue 11, 10 December 1926, Page 7

CITY PROBLEMS

TRAFFIC IN SYDNEY AND MELBOURNE. MODERN STREET lUGHTTNG. INTERVIEW WITH DIR F. J. NATHAN. “Australia is happy in the prospect of a splendid wheat harvest; the building trade is booming, and unemployment does not seem to be so great a problem there as one might suppose,” said the Mayor, Mr F. J. Nathan, to a “Standard” reporter to-day in the course of an interview on his return from a visit to the Commonwealth. Inter alia, Mr Nathan alluded to the traffic problems of Sydney and Melbourne, and to the evidences of civic pride especially prominent in the latter city “Most of the time I was in Melbourne, but I was impressed with the evidence of civic pride most practically displayed both there and in Sydney,’” stated Mr Nathan. Referring to Melbourne he mentioned the extension of the beautiful St. Kilda road down to Brighton road, the former highway being divided into three sections separated by garden avenues. On the one side was the track for outward motor traffic, on the other that for inward bound motors while the centre strip was reserved for the trams, horse and other miscellaneous traffic. “Despite the dry weather the gardens and avenues along this route showed wonderful growth, due, doubtless, to the watering facilities provided over the whole area,” said Mr Nathan. “It appears that it is watered every night and all night,” he added, proceeding to mention that Brighton road would soon be as beautiful as the famous St. Kilda drive. The small things that we did in Palmerston North in the direction of beautifying our town, such as the reservation of grass stripsi on the footpaths and the planting of street trees, were, he said, the extensive practice in cities across the Tasman.

OVERHEAD LIGHTING ABOLISHED.

St. Kilda, Mr Nathan informed the reporter, has abolished the overhead street lighting system on account of its comparative ineffectiveness where bitumen roads obtain. In its place had been installed standard lights with large bottle-shaped frosted globes of artistic design. These standards, placed 25 to 35 feet apart over a. distance of miles, had a beautiful effect, while affording the motorist greatly improved vision at night. At the intersections were larger lamps conforming with the general scheme of illumination.

SYDNEY’S STREETS OVERLOADED.

“Sydney’s streets are overloaded with surface traffic,” continued Mr, Nathan. “Two sections of the new underground railway will be opened on December 14, and the great bridge across the harbour is showing up, although it will not be completed for three or four years. In the meantime surface traffic in the city is becoming an acute and difficult problem.” In many parts of Sydney, he observed, one-way traffic was the rule. What more forcibly emphasised the congestion, however, was the fact that, in certain areas, one was not allowed to turn a corner with a motor car between the hours of 4.30 and 6 p.m., and in addition between 11.30 and 1 p.m. on Saturdays. That was to say, if the motorist found himself in onestreet and desired to round the block, he had to drive straight ahead for several blocks and turn in a “free traffic” quarter, coining back in a straight line to his destination. Parking of cars presented a problem in itself. After January 1 cars in Pitt and George streets, Sydney, would be allowed to stop no longer than was necessary to pick up or set down passengers. In Melbourne the position was not so accentuated on account of the greater width of the streets there. VIRTUALLY REBUILDING SYDNEY

The building trade was wonderfully busy in Sydney, continued Mr Nathan, adding that the city was being virtually rebuilt. “One only needs to go there and see the work, costing millions of pounds, being done to widen the streets to realise the wisdom of New Zealand s Town Planning Bill,” he declared The purchase and demolition or alteration of buildings to effect improvements was a costly enterprise. As for unemployment, while a visitor could not accurately gauge the position, it appeared not to be so acute as might be imagined. Building activity absorbed many men, while it was generally stated that there was ample work in the country. There were prospects of a boom wheat harvest and, when it was remembered that grain growing was one of the primary industries of the Commonwealth, it would be realised that there were good grpunds here for optimism. Of course, the pastoralists were far from happy with the wool prices, even though 2s per pound was realised for Australian clips, which are of the finer wools. Incidentally, Mr Nathan mentioned that, on the otfier ,-ide of the Tasman, sheepfarmers concentrated on wool rather than on meat production, and that the flocks clipped heavily.