Good Roads Problem.

Hokitika Guardian, 6 January 1922, Page 1

Good Roads Problem.

ASPHALT AND CONCRETE. WELLINGTON, Jan. 4

According to -Mr George C. Warren and Mr E. Parker, both of Boston, who arrived by the Makura recently, concrete has not yet absolutely been proved as the best material lor roadmaking. The company with which these Bostonians are connected put down the famous Columbia highway, 216 miles long, running from Astoria through the city of Portland, Oregon, and the Columbia river gorge, one of the most beautiful scenic spots in the States. This fine thoroughfare is laid in a patent asphalt. In the early days of permanent roads ten to fourteen feet was the maximum on the trunk lines, but with the growth of automobile traffic this was found to be quite inadequate, and now the minimum road is sixteen feet wide, but in some of the busier routes twenty and twenty-five feet roads will be found. These thoroughfares are what we in New Zealand would call "country' roads” (except as to the surface, of course). With such excellent roads as America is getting the use of the motor truck is extending and" whole fleets can be seen hauling merchandise from town to town. It has been found that fewer handlings and rapid dispatch are points which weigh in favour of the motor as against the railway in what is known as “short haul traffic. On long-distance traffic the railway is still unassailable, but the motor has a distinct niche in the matter of transport, and where you have, good roads the motor comes into its own. Contrasting asphalt and concrete road construction, Mr Warren mentioned that a big point in favour ot the first-mentioned was the fact tha there was no need to tear up nr. existing road, as a permanent coating ot asphalt could be nut down on any surface of an old road. He mentioned that since the war there had been a tremendous increase in the mileage a permanent roads laid down m the States, and hundreds of millions o dollars were being spent. The people were fullv seized of the importance ot good roads to development ot the country. After a trip to Sydney. Mr Man will spend some time in the .Dominion.