ROAD CONTROL

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 8, 4 October 1919, Page 5

ROAD CONTROL

1, THE VICTORIAN SYSTEM

REPORT TO COUNTIES' CONFERENCE

Tho president of the New Zealand Counties' Association (Mr. A. 11... Ml) inid before the delegates to the confer)uco of tho association a report on tho Victorian system of road control I After outlining th-j Victorian methods of local government. Mr. Jull said that the roads of the country, notably the main thoroughfares, became so unsatisfactory that tho Stoto determined upon a drastic remedy. The remedy took tho , method of the appointment of a board of three members tor a period of five years (subsequently extondad by a further five years), independent of the Shire councils and of tho Public Works Department. The duties of this board were, among other things, to determine which roads should Ijo main roads, and, upon such determination the board, in conjunction with, and not superseding the Shire councils, call upon the Shires to construct or in some cases reconstruct tho said Toads, tho 'basis of payment for this work being met by the Country Honda Board Department in respect of onehalf of tho cost, and in respect to tho other lialif, it was paid by a lonn i for which the Shire Council was responsible, and for which they paid an annual sum equal to C per cent., which paid off the loan in 3H years. In other words, the total cost of tho construction of these main roads was a charge upon tho Shires at the rate of 3 per cent, for the period of 31| years. In Tespect to the maintenance of the roads after construction, the cost was divided in tho same proportions, half by tho Shires and half by tho State, but of course not by loan but by annual payments based upon the expenditure which the board incurred during the preceding year. The standard of road to be constructs or reconstructed, tho gradients to bo observed, tho nunftity of the metal, and the wholo specifications prepared by the Shire engineer must bo approved by the board. Loan for Main Roads. Tho construction of a number oi what were deemed to be main thoroughfares of traffic by tho board through the Shire councils soon brought into prominence tho very great need which existed for tho construction of a better class of side road, theso side roads in many cases being the oitfy means by which tho settlers were ablo to get on to their sections. A loan of two million pounds was raised for the purpose of constructing main roads. This was contemplated to bo spent in five years. The war, however, reduced tho spending capacity of tho board, and the whole sum had not yot been spent. In addition to the two million loan for the main roads, a furthor (loan of two million pounds had been authorised for tho purpose uf tho construction of the side roads, or as they were c'Sfled, developmental Toads. In the caso of these latter roads, they were determined by tho board after consultation with the Shires, and the cost of that work was. borne by the Eoads Board, oxcept that tho Shires were called upon to pay about 1J per cent, per annum of tho total cost of construction for a period of twenty years. The whole of tho maintenance in respect to tho developmental roads was borno by tho Shires, and no developmental road was permissible in a Shire which Covied a smali'.or rate than Is. 6d. in tho £ on the annual value (equalling, say, 9-10ths of a penny on the capital value); the district must also in the boards' opinion bo insufficiently provided with roads, but bo capnblo of development.

No Concrete Roadi. In addition to the ordinary macadam road there were a couplo of stretches of tarred roads, one M.elbourno to Gedlong 10 miles, and i:ho other on the Mornington road about 30 mi'.M running out of Melbourne. Outside of theso stretches the board had practically not tarred any of tho country roads. Thero wero no concreto roads. Motor traffic vtas not nearly so general in Victoria as in New Zealand, but one could detect a nervous feeling in tho minds of members of the board as to how the maintenance charges would bo affected when through the construction of greater mileages of suitable roads motor traffic, both fast and heavy, would be nttracted in irj:reasing voCiirmc.

The cost of maintenance of the main roads for tho five years was JE462.579, riaing from ,£9490 in 1914 to .£173,757 in WIS, although, of course, it was too early to say what tho averagu cost wouT.d be, as a great deal of toi:.<l work was just completed and the maintenance was hardly started on thoan portions.

Tho Country Bonds Board had undoubtedly improved road construction in Victoria. A more uniformly good road was made, gradients had been improved, and roads had been reconstructed which tho local authorities would not do because their ratepayers had little need of them, although these r,oads in many cases wero absolutely essential for through traffic. The hoard wag also allivo to tho need of maintaining the roads up to their constructed standard, as any departure from this would be fatal to the scheme. Another useful purpose which tho board wa6 serving was in tho purchase of road-mak-ing machinery and crushing plants which they had purchased, and where needed Shires might hire thesa plants on very reasonable- light of purchase. The board could afford to experiment with new types and their experience was always at tho disposal of tho Shires.

Applicable to New Zealand. After careful consideration, l\v. Jull said he considered that they cou/.d with great beiicitt apply the Victorian 6ysitcin to Now Zealand, after remedying what he thought were some of its defects from tho point of view of l!io local authorities. I'irst, however, it would bo well to remember that New Zealand was geographically very different from Victoria and the, county councils would not bo so ready to have one 'board in Wellington dealing with tho roads aU over the Dominion. In Victoria all roads Beomed to lead to Melbourne, which made it comparatively eaay to administer the Department by n single board. The question as to whether a 'board of three members could deal expeditiously enough with our requirements did not effect the principle underlying tho Victorian system, which was that the State recognised o. partnership in the cost of constructing and maintaining tho country roads. True, tho Stato did not fully recogniso that principle! except in respect of what were called main roads, but in respect to developmental reads they constructed entirely and then handed over to the Shires subject to an avorage charge of about li per cent, per annum for twenty years, the Shires doing all maintenance, _ "1 can see no reason, onco the principle is conceded, that the Stiito should assist in tho cost of the country roads, for discriminating in favour of one road as against another; in practice it has always been acknowledged that developmental roads to open up tho country should be dono. by the State, or largely assisted by tho State," said Mr. Jull. "The fact that they aro being dono by a board in u methodical way instead of dono by doles from the Public Works Department does not atfeot tho principlo of State help, und once it is accepted that tho State should assist main road nuiintenunco upon which the Stato only paid half tho cost of constructing, there is no escape from tho extension of tho principlo of the State contributing towards tho cost of maintaining roads which in the interest of the whole Stato they Jolt it to 'bo necessary to wholly construct. It is further quite indefensiblo that motor taxation should be arbitrarily taken "by the Stato for cno set of roads while motorists have free access to all roads."

Tho great advantage of a recognition of .1 uniform contribution by the State would be that flier© would be no conflict as to what roads should bo subsidised, no n a od for tho Roads Bourd to discriminate botwsn different districts, bcoaudo Public Works grants could still bo used to further assist baekbloeks areas. Tho present anomalies in tho State subsidy would disappear; tho amount of expenditure would bo dependent upon the standard of coLstructiou which the board adopted, tho loans nec.»sary woulld "be raised by tho State, making for lower rates of interest, nnd iinally thoro wouW bo a greater improvement genornlly in the roads of the country than could be hoped for under our present methods. Good roads were the arteries of tho producers of the country along which the traffio of tho people coursed. Tho whole trend of modem

transportation was changing New Zealand had done magnificently in tho past in tho construction of roads and bridges considering the small population, but tho road -problem to-day was bevond tho local bodies' unaided efforts. Other States in AustraMn were waking up from a long lethargy of road neglect, while New Zealand was hesitating. "We should take our courage in both hands and taoldo tne road question by a Bound, safe, and uilelligent policy of co-operation between the local authorities and the State which will bring about a development of the country greater than any other singlo factor,' concluded Mr. Jull. At the conclusion of his remarks, Mr. .lull was accorded a hearty vote of thanks for his report.