NORTHERN HIGHWAY

Evening Star, Issue 23687, 21 September 1940, Page 8

NORTHERN HIGHWAY

DEVIATION WORK PROGRESSES FORMATION NEARLY COMPLETED Standing out like a livid scar across the face of virgin country, the new highway .deviation from AVaitati to Dunedin, via Pigeon Flat and the Leith. Valley is now plainly discernible. The work on the northern side of the saddle is being carried out by the Public AVorks Department, and formation is well advanced. Indeed the bulk of the men engaged are concentrating their energies upon the last three-quarters of a mile of formation. This is a stretch of roadway from Pigeon Flat to the saddle, and what •formation work it involves! There are several huge cuttings yet to be carved out of the hillsides, and one upon which a number of the men are working at the moment presents a solid base of blue metal which has to be' blasted and picked out of the way. However, the work has progressed' to such an extent during the past six' months or more than one can now clearly visualise the nature of the road when completed. There will be none of those harassing hair-pin bends or steep grades, the bane of all- motorists. Rather will the highway present graceful contours and imperceptible inclines—inclines, indeed, which the modern car will take on top, without any stress to its engine. Construction work near the top of the saddle has meant the formation on the lower side of the highway of huge retaining walls built of_ stone hewn from the cuttings. Here, indeed, is a mammoth undertaking. These enbankments must be all of 30ft deep, and they have been built up, stone by stone, by manual labour, and still the work goes on. The last cutting, and one of no great depth, will be on the saddle itself. Here an old farmhouse stands in the way of progress. At present it is used as a storehouse for tools and chaff etc., but very shortly it must give way to the advancing men. Some idea of the immensity of the work involved in some of the cutting can bo gleaned from the illustrations published, elsewhere in this issue. There are no mechanical excavators on tho job, simply men and' horses, with their accompanying drays. In one cutting there is a tramway and trucks to run tho spoil down the slopes to the gully beyond. Over tho saddle the work of rccon-

structing the old road is being carried out by the city authorities, and the highway is completed, with metalling, as far as Sullivan’s Dam. The old rpad over its tortuous trail is completely obliterated, in its place being a fine highway witli easily negotiable curves. A considerable time must elapse before either section of tho highway is

concluded, for the number of men employed is gradually dwindling. Who knows, however. Maybe, after the war, the work will bo resumed with renewed energy and carried out to its successful completion thus providing Dunedin with a northern access which should be a decided improvement upon the present tortuous one over Mt. Cargill.