The Evening Star. THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 1934. THE GREAT SCENIC ROAD.

Evening Star, Issue 21746, 14 June 1934, Page 8

The Evening Star. THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 1934. THE GREAT SCENIC ROAD.

With the knowledge early this year that the resident engineer in charge on the Te Anau-Milford road had been instructed to • .study particularly the “ shooting ” of granite, we have never entertained serious doubts of the Government’s intention to pursue to completion this most happily-conceived undertaking. That view received further buttressing when, with the approach of winter, road construction definitely entered the West Coast side of the watershed at one of the upper forks of the Hollyford head waters. There was then some doubt as to the route thereafter, a choice having to be made between the Gertrude saddle and the Homer saddle (five miles or so south-west of the former) for the best exit from the Hollyford to the Cleddau Valley. Once the Cleddau is reached its valley dictates the route of the relatively short descent to the terminus at the head of Milford Sound. While survey parties were investigating under which saddle to site the unavoidable tunnel, the road-head was being pushed on well away from the heal of the Eglinton Valley, and now comes the definite Ministerial announcement that Cabinet has approved completion of the road via the Homer saddle tunnel. About three-quarters of a mile of tunnelling will be involved, and, as indicated, the country rock will probably be tough material, though not necessarily bad “ shooting.” Its estimated cost is £63,000, or rather less than half of the amount believed necessary for completion of the whole enterprise from now on. This would bring the total cost of the Te Anau-Milford road to about a-quarter of a million of money.

It is evident that Mr Ball, district Public Works Department engineer at Dunedin, , takes a keen professional and personal interest in this undertaking. He has made visits of inspection both aerial and terrestrial, and, if Cabinet furnishes the necessary funds, he will speed up construction by the employment of additional men so as to hasten access to the point where he will assemble the plant for tunnelling operations. These latter presumably could be conducted on the three-shift system, so that, working day and night, the tunnel might be put through in under two years. #One of the several senses in which this work is happily conceived is that it provides employment at a time when it is most urgently needed. Roads may not usually be regarded as directly reproductive works, but in this particular case there are exceptional grounds for believing that, once the Te Anau-Milford route is open for vehicular traffic, New Zealand’s tourist attractions will boast the most notable and magnetic addition for many decades. As the construction is costing money at a very “ tight” time, the merely materialistic aspect must be considered, and one cannot ignore Lord Bledisloc's recent hint

as to the possibility of the tourist '••■••itfio ye", becoming New Zealand’s leading item in sources of income. This, from one who is both an assiduous sightseeing traveller and an authority on special's*! forms of agriculture ought to carry no littin weight. The drawback to tourist traffic at this end of the dominion lias been the prevalence of “ dead ends,” involving the retracing of steps by the visitor before he can proceed to the next show place. Completion of the To AnauMilford road will doubly obviate this. For the local tourist there will be the round trip to Milford —the walk over the M'Kinnon pass and the drive under the Homer Saddle on return, or vice versa. Far from the road diverting patronage from the track, it will probably prove a valuable feeder. Then for the overseas visitor there will be a wonderful round trip of all the main South Island resorts, beginning from disembarkation at Milford, or ending with embarkation at Milford if the trip is made the reverse way. One can now look forward with some certainty to Milford Sound becoming quite a regular port of call for passenger vessels on the Tasman Sea route instead of the very occasional calling place it has hitherto been. If that be so the question of lighting the entrance will have to be considered by the Marine Department, for in thick weather the sense of responsibility of master mariners has occasionally dictated discretion as the better part of valour and caused disappointment or delays. As a later development there might come in time the adoption of the attractive scheme recently put forward in this journal by Captain Col Mac Donald —viz., the development of a commercial harbour at Preservation Inlet at which overseas vessels would call, and which would be headquarters for smaller vessels to “ work ” all the West Coast sounds, including, of course, Milford.

It was with some disappointment that one noted the omission of the Te AnauMilford road from the list of subjects discussed at the Otago Expansion League’s annual meeting this week. The Ministerial announcement came just a day or two late for that function. However, the league lost no time in expressing appreciation once Cabinet’s decision became public. It is already evident that Southland’s sense of relief is equally strong, and there can be no doubt that Canterbury is with’her southern sisters in the matter. In fact, the North Island also has long since let it be known that the project has her interest and approval, so that Cabinet’s decision should be welcomed throughout New Zealand by all sections. At least two South Island Minis-' ters have particularly interested themselves in this matter, and to Messrs Hamilton and Bitchener a tribute of appreciation of services rendered is due. in the past New Zealand has experienced too many cases of halted construction of public works—cases of putting one’s hand to the plough and looking back—with the result of delayed facilities and loss from capital expenditure lying idle. Moreover, 1 when at all feasible, the prosecution of useful j>ublic works in times of economic depression is now recognised as particularly sound policy.