BROKEN ROADWAYS

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 16, 14 October 1943, Page 6

BROKEN ROADWAYS

Pounded By Heavy Motor Vehicle Traffic RATEPAYERS URGE NEED OF PROPER MAINTENANCE

The Wellington Ratepayers’ Association executive has discussed the responsibility of city councillors in relation to the maintenance of roads and other eit.v assets which rapidly depreciate if not kept in proper repair. Resulting troni this, the association has issued the following statement for publication : — "It is not the tramway tracks alone in Wellington whith have gone to pieces in the last two years through lack of proper maintenance, not necessarily or entirely the fault of councillors or of the department of the city- corporation concerned, as the shortage of manual labour has made it difficult to keep up to om standards. The pounding of heavy service motor-vehicles during the past year has intensified the problem to such an extent that it is doubtful it ever the streets have been in such a bad way since the days of water-bound macadam roads. "Right iu the middle of the business part of the city the surfaces have been permitted to deteriorate to such an extent that driving over them is aiiytJtug but the comfortable feeling it was before the war. In some cases the road surfaces are badly pot-holed. The bitumen surface in Kent Terrace has been up into hundreds of holes—particuhirly iu that section between Courtenay llace and Pirie Street—which in wet weather become miniature lakes. ith modern, fast-movin# traffic this causes a deal of splashing: on anyone or anything that happens to be in the immediate "The Courtenay Place road, surface has never been in a worse condition, and the eastern section of Ghuzuee street is going to pieces. In the city area from Courtenay Place to the station the roau surface abutting the tram rails is positively dangerous; bad depressions and nasty humps abound and there have already been cases of near serious accidents through, people tripping in front of on-coming traffic. Womenfolk in particular require to be very watchful wacn crossing city streets just now. “These are typical examples ot what is taking place all over the city. 1. is obvious to anyone that the reconditioning of the streets is to cost ratepayers a "Teat deal of money in the near fu.ute. Very little re-surfacing with bitumenous asphalt was done last summer, but with the approach of the dry season the opportunity is presented of pushing on witn the work, always assuming that the required manual labour and material are made available—and they can be. It would be interesting to know it tae ' money saved by the city engineer s department through the non-maintenance ot the city’s road surfaces during the past three years is being kept in reserve to pay for work when it is done. “The Wellington Ratepayers Association has persistently urged on successive councils that maintenance is in tact a major responsibility of councillors, but officers and councillors alike appear to neglect the work at hand for larger undertakings more likely to attract the approbation of citizens. Now that maintenance can no longer be neglected, ict us, as retepayers, hope that reserves are available to meet the immediate cash requirements without again raising rates. Representations are to be made to the manpower authorities by the Wellington City Council for a . more suitable type of labour for repairing tram tracks. This was decided last night.