MOTOR TRAFFIC

Gisborne Times, Volume LXI, Issue 9847, 28 October 1924, Page 2

MOTOR TRAFFIC

HOADS MAINTENANCE PROBLEM.

AYELLLXGTON, Oct. 27

'JTiere have been an ever-increasing number of complaints regarding damage by motor-vehicles throughout tlie Dominion, especially in the North Island, where metalling, is so expensive (says the Public Works Statement). The regulation of motor-traffic is essential, otherwise much of the expenditure that has taken place during recent years, and is still taking place, will to a large extent be wasted. The roads arc built for all, -and it is unreasonable that a road which is adequate and economical for 95 per cent, of the travellers and transport organisation's should be ruined 1 by a few very heavy and rapidly-driven vehicles, in order that a few may make a little extra profit. The justice of these complaints has been recognised, and Parliament must give controlling authorities adequate powers to deal with the anomaly. . The necessity for improved main- , ten*r,cc cannot" be too strongly stressed. Good work is done by local am- j thorities and by the Government, but j too often the belief seems to exist in the minds of those responsible that, having laid down a good road, there is noLneed to anything more for vears to come. Nothing could bo rarther from the truth and no belief more economically unsound. One of the provisions of the Alain Highways Act, from which one may expect the greatest results, is that which authorises the payment to local authorities of a subsidy of £1 or £2 on their maintenance expenditure. hope that local -authorities who areUspcnding, say, £6O per annum per nrile on their roads will not interpret and apply this section of the Act as relieving thorn of portion? of their expenditure —in other words, that in future they should spend only £4O while the Highways Board provides the other £2O. This may be reasonable in some oases, but my intention when framing this section was that the local authority would continue to spend its £OO and l in addition another £3O provided by the Alain Highways Maintenance Fund, and thereby much better roads would result, and heavy (in mnr.V cases) expenditure for reconstruction be postponed for years to come. When we realise that per head of population we have twice as jmuch roadway as there is in the United States and twelve times as much as in England, it must be admitted that a •standard of construction per mile as good as exists in these older, more populous, and richer countries cannot oc expected in New Zealand. Nevertheless. the results that have been obtained to date in New Zealand need give no cause for complaint. A\ bile the United States lies only about 13 per cent, of its roads hard-surfaced, New Zealand has 40 per cent. If we take the total areas of the respective countries into consideration, we find that the United States of America has less than one-eiglith of a. ' mile of improved road per square mile of territory, while New Zealand has nearly a quarter of a mile. With the provision of a reasonable amount for -opening up the hackblocks, and the special funds made available under the Highways Act, I am confident that as the years go by New Zealand’s position, both as regards the proportion of its improved roads and 1 as regards the actual high standard of its more intensely tiaificked highways, will be still further improved. One of the Engineers of the Department has been abroad for the past twelve months obtaining first-hand knowledge of road-construction and administration methods __ throughout-Europ-e and America. The information which lie has obtained will be of considerable value both to the Government, the Main Highways Board (with which lie is associated), and local authorities.