HAAST ROAD POPULAR

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31006, 11 March 1966, Page 3

HAAST ROAD POPULAR

<N.Z. Press Association) DUNEDIN, Mar. 10.

More motorists from the North Island than from any other part of New Zealand used the new Haast Pass road during the five-week peak holiday period from the end of December to the beginning of February.

This is revealed in a traffic survey published today by the

Government Tourist Bureau in Dunedin. A total of 9677 vehicles passed a bureau check-point at Makarora from December 30 to February 7. Of these, nearly two-thirds visited Queenstown and nearly half of them had passed through Dunedin en route.

The survey shows that the highest percentage—3o.l—of all traffic came from the North Island. The next highest percentage (21.8) of touring motorists had started their journey from various parts of Otago. About 32,900 motor-borne

visitors—including bus passengers—drove through the pass during the period of the survey.

The heaviest daily tally—--440 vehicles—was recorded during the 24 hours from 9 a.m. on January 5. Traffic was also heavy on January 7 (439), January 4 (429), and January 3 (404). By January 15 the daily tally had dropped to 266 vehicles and this dropped further to 165 on January 22. After a temporary rise to 220 vehicles on January 26, traffic continued to decrease until the end of January and the first week in February when a daily average of 128 vehicles was recorded.