BETTER HIGHWAYS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 38, 9 June 1947, Page 5

BETTER HIGHWAYS

BIG WORKS PROGRAMME Improvements and reconstruction all along the main highway from Whakatane to Tauranga and on through Waihi and Paeroa to Pokeno are proposed in the 10-year-plan of the Minister of Works for the Bay of Plenty area; This highway was described by the 'Minister as “the backbone of the roading system of the area.” Other highways scheduled for attention are the Whakatane-Rotorua, Whakatane-Gisborne, Opotiki - Te Araroa and Te Ngae-Paengaroa main roads.

Roading proposals in the area included several completely new construction works as well as a multiplicity of improvements of existing routes said the Minister, but there would still be room for a considerable mileage of new roading after all of this had been completed. The Main Highways Board is now confronted by the enormous task of overcoming arrears of maintenance due ,to the war in addition to bringing the highways system up to the standards required for the next generation of road travellers. Many roads had been called upon to bear much heavier traffic than they had been designed to carry and reconstruction to better standards of strength, curvature and grade was a pressing problem not only for the Main highways Board but also for the local bodies in very many cases. A very important new route was contemplated between Tauranga and Rotorua via the Omanawa Valley and Mamaku.

Another new route lies from Te Teko to Taneatua via Awakeri.

An immense improvement would result from the new road from Murupara to Te Teko via the Rangitaiki Valley, while a road from Galatea to Waiotapu through the Kaingaroa forest would open up new country. A further new length lay between Ohope Beach and Wainui.