ENGLAND’S ROADS

Gisborne Times, Volume LXI, Issue 9845, 25 October 1924, Page 6

ENGLAND’S ROADS

REVELATION TO NEW ZEALANDERS

SPLENDID FOR MOTORING

“The English roads are splendid for motoring” said the Hun. 11. St. Leger when interviewed regarding his trip Lo England from which lie had just returned. During his IS months' clay in the Old Country Air St. Leger motored about 24,000 miles. The system adopted for the construction and maintenance of English roads was somewhat similar to that now in vogue in New Zealand. The shire councils bad to attend to tlie void;, but a national board similar to tho Alain Highways Board of the. Dominion was the real controlling authority. This board allocated,! the moneys received by means of the various taxes, to tlie different shires, who put the work in hand. The nation;’.! board, through its experts, exercised supervision over the work, and saw that everything was of a standard suitable to the requirements of the district. The result of ibis policy over a number of yvars was that not only were, the main highways in perfect condition, but the subsidiary roads .were also first class.

Very few of tlie roads were constructed in concrete—in fact only a few which carried a particularly heavy volume of traffic were so constructed. The. milk were laid down with bitumen on top of a solid foundation. Road work was done in a very thorough manner. Tlie road would first be scarified, a bed of heavy metal laid down, and then a lighter covering added. On top oi this would be rolled in the hot bitumen. The result of this was that a perfect wearing surface was obtained, and the maintenance costs were minimised by reason of the solid foundation.