ROAD OBSTRUCTION

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20489, 7 March 1932, Page 5

ROAD OBSTRUCTION

MAIN NORTH HIGHWAY. EFFECTS OF LANDSLIPS. Service car drivers whose duties take them over the Main North road between Christchurch and Kaikoura are beginning to wonder how long it will bo before the highway is cleared of the debris which has littefed it since the rainstorm of a fortnight ago. A private motorist going over the* road for the first time in its present state would be justified in thinking that the slips had occurred recently, but a representative of The Press., who reached Cliriftcliurch on Saturday afternoon from the north, was assured that the road had in such a state for over two weeks. From a.point some miles south of the Clarence , river ' the shore is strewn thickly with timber washed up by the sea, in some cases right across the highway, being strong evidence' of ' the severity of the storm, y/hich, for some time, caused through traffic to be held up. Below Kkikoura, however, there is less evidence of the effects of the storm at sea, to be observed, but instead, hundreds. of land-slips block the road, some being of considerable dimensions. Heaps of rpeks necessitate careful driving as there is room for only one car to pass at such points, and through the Hundalee district and for a considerable distance squth of it obstructions are to be seen at intervals of only a few yards. In some cases big slips which have fallen from the hillsides above are lying on the road with manuka trees, flax bushes, and other' vegetation growing in them. The Press, representative saw only three men engaged on the road, which is in a state that should not be tolerated, and the opinion was expressed to him, in conversation with anothei motorist that gangs of men should immediately be put to work to clear it. "Service car drivers who use the road regularly might not. have any trouble in getting through," said the motorist, "but consideration should be given to less experienced drivers. There are scores of campers on, the road at present, and it i$ not fair to thepi that the highway should fee left in such a sfcatq a day longer than is necessary."