ACCESS TO CHATEAU

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 185, 2 May 1940, Page 7

ACCESS TO CHATEAU

Eliminating Snowdrifts On New Road Dominion Special Service. ' AUCKLAND, May 1. New road works nearing completion are designed to eliminate blockages on the Bruce Highway, giving access to the Chateau Tongarlro, during heavy 'snowfalls in the winter. The new road has been built above ground level and this should remove the old trouble 0,. running into snowdrifts in cuttings and 'enable Chateau traffic free access even in the worst weather. ’ A new danger, however, is foreseen ■by the Automobile Association because of the many drivers totally inexperienced in snow conditions who visit the 'National Park during the winter 'sports period. It is considered there is ■a possibility of cars slipping sideways on the banked curves or on elevated portions of the highway in freezing -conditions when the surface of the road has been covered by a fall of 'snow. The association has recommended the highway authorities to provide 'safety fences at all points where there is any possibility of a car’s wheels going over the bank or becoming embedded in the soft soil on the roadside. Attention has also been drawn to the sharply-banked approach to the "Whakapapanui Stream Bridge on the Mount Ruapehu Road about half a 'mile above the Chateau. The inner edge •of the banking drops suddenly over the ■side of a deep filling and it. has been :suggested by the association that a •protective fence would-eliminate any ’possibility of danger'at times when ice forms on the road surface.