HEAVY COST FOR ROAD SEALING ON RANGITAIKI PLAIN

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 99, 17 February 1950, Page 5

HEAVY COST FOR ROAD SEALING ON RANGITAIKI PLAIN

The impractibility of the Whakatane County Council’s \undertaking the sealing of five miles of roading a year on the Rangitaiki Plains as urged by a correspondent/on Wednesday was pointed out by'the chairman, Mr J. L. Burnett, yesterday when the question was referred to him. Because of the unusual conditions existing on .the Plains it cost very much more to seal a mile of roading than in other places, he said.

The Rangitaiki Plains were continually sinking and the uneven softness of the ground made it necessary to put on costly heavy rock for/a foundation. This bumped the price up considerably to about £6OOO to £BOOO per mile, according to the conditions encountered.

The county engineer, Mr C. H. Brebner, said he did not know of any other place like it.

Present Maintenance At the present time county metal roads were maintained at a figure of about £134 a mile while highways cost about £l5O per mile. Mr Burnett pointed out that the present rates for the county totalled £30,000. The cost to seal five miles of roading on the Plains would be between £30,000 and £40,000, meaning that present county rates would have to be, doubled. This was obviously not feasible and, although the council had considered sealing before, it was unable to agree to doing too much of * this work because of the high cost and the heavy burden that would be placed on the whole county. At present the council was adopting the policy of keeping metal roads in as good order as possible but renewing bridges wherever this was needed.

The correspondent who wrote to the Beacon said he had toured all over the North Island, Mr Burnett added. If that were so, he had probably passed through many counties but on state highways. Chairman Agrees

If the criticism was directed against state highways passing through the Whakatane County, Mr Burnett said he agreed entirely. The county was, along with Opotiki, the most backward county in the North Island with sealed state highways. These however, Were the responsibility of the Works Department. But, if the letter refererd to county roads other than state highways then, Mr Burnett said, he could not agree. Such roads in the Whakatane County compared more than favourably with those in other counties.